Media History & Culture: Unit 3
Gender and Computing
Contrary to popular belief many computers were actually women.
AOL Controversy
Courts found that AOL had inflated earnings statements in order to get into position to buy Time-Warner.
Airbnb.com
• Started in 2008 by Brian Chesky that for a small commission, offered to match travelers and those who had extra accommodations.
Java
"Write once, run anywhere." Software system that allowed interactive graphics to be shown on the web on any platform.
Advantages of Citizen Journalism
-immediacy/access -diversity
• Two Stanford students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, researched the link structure of the World Wide Web. • Research turned into the creation of a web browser in 1998. • At the time, most web page searches were based on the number of times the search term was found on the page. • Created a map of weblinks, this made it more likely for the search engine to turn up useful information. Searches based not only on incidence of search terms, but links to pages. • Became the world's leading search engine. • Developed the Chrome browser which knocked Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Firefox out of the market.
Arab Spring
• WikiLeaks exposed political corruption that contributed to the uprisings. • Wave of (violent and non-violent) demonstrations against oppressive governmental regimes.
Mosaic
First widely popular web browser, created by Marc Andreessen in the early 90's at the NCSA at the University of Illinois. First to combine text and visuals, contained navigation buttons, memory, and seamless graphics. Also had server software which allowed users to read and publish on the World Wide Web along with reading. Later became Mozilla, Firefox.
Tim-Berners Lee's Ideas
Hypertext Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Universal Resource Locator (URL)
Usenet
"News group" system Collections of emails about topics such as computing and professional interests. Few had anything to do with traditional news topics, none were moderated by professional journalists.
Richard Stallman
- Leader of hacker culture, programmer at MIT - Saw apple and corporate culture as bad influence on free computing
Amazon.com and the "Long Tail"
-1994 by Jeff Bezos -served small niche customers -volume of many niche items can be greater than few popular items -decentralized networks help to make this happen
Johnathan Zittrain and Lawrence Lessig
-Harvard law professors -believe strict laws to enforce copyright are counterproductive -web as "generous culture" -copyright stifles creativity
"Wysiwyg" Text Editor (What You See Is What You Get)
A computer screen that shows exactly what the printed product will look like.
Disadvantages of Citizen Journalism
-inaccuracy -exploitative -allows cuts to new budgets -diversity
Myths About the Internet
-infinite -democratic/ diverse -free -anonymous -the internet can and does reinforce many of the imbalances that mark the "real" world
Information on the Internet
-more information is available -this volume of information does not ensure accuracy
The Internet and News
-there are credible sources, but also deceitful sources -provocative and salacious news (clickbait, listicles) -Facebook is not the primary way consumers get news online
Ted Nelson (1937-Present)
1974 book demanded computer power for people. Urged computer literacy and fight against mainframe and central information systems, move away from IBM culture of conformity. Predicted that by 2020 hundreds of thousands of file servers and hundreds of millions of simultaneous users.
Internet Service Providers (ISP)
1980's-90's, created their own databases, reference materials, and interest group networks. They were like "gated communities without access to the broader World Wide Web" so none of these providers ever came out on top.
Babbage "Difference Engine"
5-ton and 11 feet tall with 8,000 cams and cogwheels. Could calculate 31 decimal places. Solutions to polynomial equations could be printed directly and in hard copy to eliminate typos. Anticipated the computer.
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
A "desktop" and windows arrangements for different files, using a mouse that points anything on the screen.
George Orwell's 1984 (1948)
Book about totalitarian state where inconvenient history is erased and where people are constantly monitored by Big Brother.
Internet
A global confederation of computer-to-computer networks that send digital signals, hardware infrastructure. Concept of free-flowing communications around the globe.
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
A group that developed non-commercial software to aid scientific research.
Home Brewed Computer Club
A learning club that met weekly at Stanford to hear lectures and share ideas about computing. Encouraged experiments. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were among those who attended, they presented their first demonstration here.
Listserv
A method to send group emails Users could "subscribe" to any discussion group, hundreds formed around topics from network protocols to science fiction. Anyone could start a listserv on any discussion topic.
Killer Application
A software application so useful that people would buy the computer just to use it. Function of a product presented as indispensable or far superior to rival products.
Ethernet
A system for a networked office with email and links to printers and copiers.
Long-tail Marketing
A way to serve special needs and niche market. • Opposite of mass marketing or mass media.
Advantages of Virtual Communities
Ability to create political momentum.
Generative Formats
Allow you to consume and create content. • Ex. Instagram, YouTube
TCP System
Allowed the network itself to route only the data from "nodes" and have no central control function.
Wiki
An application that allows many users to create and edit pages on a website through their browser windows.
Smalltalk
An object-oriented programming language that made it easy to create GUI with bit mapped graphics on the computer screen.
"Gopher" System
Anticipated the web A hierarchical structure of read-only files developed at the University of Minnesota. Thousands of gopher sites served up text files in numerical hierarchy.
Apple/Microsoft Lawsuit
Apple claimed Microsoft copied the "look and feel" of the Apple system. Microsoft responded by saying that the Windows idea came from the Xerox PARC and was never licensed by Apple, apple lost the suit.
Tethered Formats
Apps that let you consume media, but do not let you create it. Doesn't allow for innovation since it comes programmed.
First Website
Built at the CERN and was put "on line" on August 6, 1991. Idea was to exchange charts and other graphic data easier with a computer program. Interpreted text and pictures in one window. Originally developed for scientists to collaborate on high-energy physics projects as they worked at different universities.
H.G. Wells
Called for new media "for the collection, indexing, summarizing, and release of knowledge." Independence from "highly conservative and resistant university system." (1937)
Ward Cunningham
Came up with the first wiki in 1995 as a way for lots of people to contribute to a software repository. o Picked the work wiki because it was the Hawaiian word for "fast." o Idea was to be a quick, simple way for people to make edits on a webpage.
Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Code that transfers users.
Killer Application Examples
Cold War - Code-breakers, artillery tables, rocket scientists 1960's - Insurance tables, bank reconciliations 1970's - Small Business Spreadsheets 1980's - Desktop Publishing 21st Century - Media Convergence
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969)
Computer (HAL) takes over a spaceship and kills most of the crew.
Tim Berners-Lee
Computer engineer at a major European physics project called CERN, created the World Wide Web in 1989. People naturally want to "interact as part of a larger system."
Vannevar Bush's Predictions
Computers attached to a desk with screens that have multiple purposes. New forms of encyclopedias with a mesh of associative trails running through them... (Internet, Hyperlinks). New profession establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record. (HTML code writers)
Defense Early Warning (DEW)
Computers linked radar systems across the Canadian and Alaskan north to anticipate Russian war planes. Set up the system to survive a Russian attack.
BBN
Connected four universities' computer systems to create the first computer network using an IMP.
IBM
Created by Herman Hollerith, made personal computing legitimate in business and industry. Strict conformity culture. Failed to explore the possibilities of the tech it dominated. Missed the market for PC's.
Sun Microsystems
Created in 1982 by four Stanford students Started the Sun computer as part of the second wave of successful start-ups. The Sun workstation was among the first to reach the "3M" goal. The Sun workstation PC was 63x faster with displays that were 16x more complex. It also networked file sharing and graphics accelerations. Toy Story was animated by Sun Microsystems. Introduced the software package, Java.
AT&T and ARPANET
Defense Department's ARPA asked AT&T to take over ARPANET, AT&T refused out of the fear that data networks would somehow create problems in the phones system. Missed the "curve in the road."
Rene Higonnet and Louis Moyroud
Developed a photo-mechanical process in the 50's that set type 6x faster than Linotypes with the help of Vannevar Bush. The photo mechanical process eventually took on more computerized controls and eventually digital systems.
TRADIC (Transistorized Airborne Digital Computer)
Developed for the military during the 50's. Cost $20, expensive, but performed thousands or more calculations without failing and light enough to be used in an aircraft.
Mother of All Demos
Douglas Engelbart introduced the mouse, graphical user interface (GUI), and possibilities of networking, and an implementation of Bush's Memex concept, could select a word and another document would appear (early hyper text link). Dec 9, 1968
First Public Test of a Computer
Eisenhower v. Stevenson election on CBS in 1952, projecting early electoral votes. Predictions were extremely accurate, but the data seemed so out of line with other predictions that CBS held back the prediction claiming the computer had some sort of malfunction.
"Computer" Term Post-WWII
Electronic devices that carried out mathematical or logical operations automatically.
Computing During WWII
Engineers raced to create quicker ways to crunch numbers and analyze problems as the threat of war loomed during the 1930's.
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
English mathematician at Cambridge known as the "Father of Computing." Found errors in navigation tables used by sailors, created a device to eliminate these errors. His device could handle extremely complex equations.
Intel
Established by Noyce and Gordon Moore, engineer's company. Early clients included NASA and Defense Department. By the 21st Century, Apple and Microsoft began using their processing chips.
Four Important Concepts of Computing
Ethernet GUI "Wysiwyg" Smalltalk
CompuServe
First large ISP, 4 million subscribers in the early 90's. Users had to pay an access fee and hourly rate, an hour online every day could cost of $100 a month. An AP collaboration revealed that not many were willing to pay a fee for news.
Xerox PARC 'Alto' (1974)
First working personal computer created by the PARC in 1974. Thousands of prototypes were manufactured.
"Dial-Up" ISP Service
For those who were not affiliated with a university and wanted to explore online sites had to join an individual bulletin board or ISP service, call a local number, then connect to the Internet.
Vannevar Bush (1890-1974)
Franklin Roosevelt's science advisor. Outlined the relationship between science and the democratic system. Said that the technological path taken in a democracy is the one led by public opinion. Center of a revolution in computing in the 1940's Predicted the development of a computer he called a "Memex"/Personal Computer.
Marc Andreessen
Funded by NCSA, developed a software called Mosaic for the World Wide Web. Responsible in part for the explosion of the World Wide Web.
Moore's Law
Gordon Moore of Intel, published a paper predicting that computer power would keep doubling every 18-24 months.
Computers During the Cold War
Had unlimited funds, one of the top priorities was to use computers to link radar systems.
Universal Resource Locator (URL)
Helped locate web pages.
IBM and the Nazis
IBM German subsidiary used census tabulators to help the Nazi government identify Jews and organize the Holocaust.
Microsoft and IBM
IBM introduced its own PC in 1981 and tried to catch up with Apple II. IBM approached Microsoft to write its underlying operating system called Microsoft "coup." Allowed Microsoft to develop an operating system for "clone" computers, which were cheaper than IBM's. IBM lost the race by focusing on hardware instead of software.
Apple Macintosh (1984)
Included the mouse, GUI, and wysiwyg.
BBC's Teletext
Interactive news services-banking, travel ticket sales Carried over broadcast signal Conservative British politicians withdrew costly subsidies, ended in 1994
News Feed Visibility
Interest*creator*post*type*recency Who posted it When posted Interactions with post Type of content
Xerox
Introduced plain paper photocopying in 1962, copiers were very profitable, dominated the market until 1970. Hoped that the PARC would help find the company new products. Lost their own research and ideas to Apple.
Apple Scandal
Investigative reporters exposed Apple's sweatshops and human rights issues after 14 workers committed suicide. Apple promised to reform, Global Labour and Human Rights stated the same abuses were persisting.
WikiLeaks
Julian Assange and other journalists opened a global drop box for "leaks" (anonymous disclosures) of business and government secrets. Idea was to protect whistleblowers and leakers from retaliation by the government. Made a name for itself by leaking information about offshore banking, oil industry scandals, illegal toxic waste dumping, and other business scandals. Julian Assange fled prosecution in 2010 and lives in Ecuadorian embassy in London.
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator)
Largest computer developed during the wars, performed up to 100,000 calculations per second. It could do the work of 100 human mathematicians in one year, in two hours. Electronic numerical integrator and calculator that was built at the University of Pennsylvania. Replacing a bad tube meant considering 19,000 possibilities.
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
Located at Stanford University, had a strong research budget and extraordinary staff, hothouse for innovation. Xerox PARC gave a presentation to Apple computers, Jobs came back days later demanding a full briefing and got one, Xerox lost their ideas.
Internet Journalism
More efficient in news distribution and advertising crashed the penny-press business model, cutting revenues in half and putting 30% of journalists out of work during the 2000's.
J.C.R. Licklider (1915-1990)
MIT Professor who was one of the most important figures in computer history. Believed computers should be interactive, when you typed something into the computer, you should get an instant response. Envisioned the development of the "intergalactic computer network" where everyone around the world could use the computer.
Apple II
Marketed as the first personal computer designed to look like a consumer product that could be used in a small business, sold 5-6 million units. Featured spreadsheet to help with accounting and small business finances.
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
Mathematical prodigy, developed the first algorithm for Babbage's system. Worked on an Italian mathematician's memo on the difference engine and added her own notes, in which she proposed her own method for calculating a sequence of Bernoulli numbers, considered the first computer program. The programming language, "Ada" named after her.
Alan Turing (1912-1954)
Mathematician and computer scientist who worked for Colossus. Formulated concepts of "algorithm" and "computation." He Proposed the idea of evaluating the completeness of a general-purpose computer. "Turing Test" involves computer's ability to simulate human intelligence.
Herman Hollerith (1860-1929)
Mathematician for U.S. Census. Created a concept of conducting a national census with punch cards containing personal information such as gender, religion, and occupation.. Founded Tabulating Machine Co. in 1896, later became International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.
Digital Networks
More durable and flexible than a centralized analog network in the case of a nuclear war. Could work continuously rather than processing batches of instructions on cards. Shape and are shaped by culture.
World Wide Web
Most widely used application on the internet, allows for the exchange of documents through hypertext links. Information on the internet
Lessons from Early Networks
Navigation is important News is not enough Graphics matter Networks can help business
Netflix Working Model
No set number of hours required, unlimited vacation days granted with high productivity still expected. Unstructured can mean constant work.
Engineering for the Internet
Not in larger corporations like AT&T. Internet tech created by people without corporate loyalties. Internets pioneers were free to create a system untethered to distinct and established corporate interests
Martin Greenberger (1931-Present)
On-line interactive computer service by 2000 would be as common as telephone service in 1964. "Most powerful amplifier of intelligence yet devised."
Steve Wozniak (1950-present)
Originally motivated by a desire to use his knowledge of electronics as a way to make free phone calls, later found he was fascinated by the intricacies of electronics. Became the "Mozart of computer engineers." Helped found Apple with Steve Jobs.
Communications Decency Act (CDA)
Part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, attempted to impose heavy content restrictions on indecent language and images.
Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act
Passed by Senator Al Gore and Representative Rick Boucher in 1992. Opened NSFnet to links with commercial networks.
Early Term "Computer"
People who worked in complex mathematics.
Text-Only Internet
Pre-ISP, text was the only communication possible during the early days of the Internet because multimedia files were too large to send through network connections.
Stratton-Oakmont v. Prodigy, 1995
Prodigy became responsible for everything published on its websites, lost an expensive libel case as a result
Z3, Germany (1941)
Programmable digital computer that was used to calculate aircraft designs. Faster than mechanical and tabulating machines, but not used for wider array of problems mathematicians were beginning to envision. Destroyed in WWII.
Colossus, Britain (1943)
Programmable digital computer that was used to decipher German military codes in WWII. Recruited mathematicians through puzzle contests that were ran by the Daily Telegraph. At its peak, 9,000 men and women worked on signals intelligence and computer development at Bletchley Park.
Minitel
Project by the French telecommunications ministry launched nationwide in early 80's. A small, low-resolution terminal that could be hooked up to a telephone at a little to no cost for the consumer. Carried phone listings and saved the cost of publishing phone directories, replaced phone books. By mid-80's, Minitel turned into the world's largest e-commerce marketplace, with banking, shopping, and all kinds of services.
Internet Protocol (IP)
Provided the address that allowed packets to be transmitted. System was supposed to be simple enough that it would run through "two tin cans and a string."
Triode Tube (1905-18)
Radio Telephony, allowed for continuous wave.
Desktop Publishing
Second "killer application" to hit the market. Users could now set type, create graphics, design newsletters, and newspapers.
Ted Nelson and Doug Englebart
Sketched model enabling users to retrieve information wherever. Vision of user empowerment shocks IBM executives, the two were not taken seriously.
Software and PC's
Software turned out to be the key to technological success in the personal computer business.
VisiCalc
Spreadsheet Program for Apple II to create a "visible calculator" that would help small businesses "run the numbers" for the weekly payroll or inventory or supplies. Became the first "killer application" and helped the Apple II become a success.
IBM 360 (1965-78)
Standard commercial unit, the "Model T of Computers." IBM's first computer using an integrated processor. A variety of capabilities and add-ons could run on one system. Used by banks, insurance, and science. Concept drove away many of IBM's competitors.
Internet Service Providers (ISP's)
Text-only system that was non-academic, hobbyists exchanged emails, used chat rooms, and played games. "Gated community without access to the broader World Wide Web."
Hypertext
The ability to embed links that could lead from one document to another.
Cognitive Surplus
The combination of leisure time and the tools needed to be creative. • Collaborative, Crowd-sourced sites • Decreased transaction costs
The World Wide Web and the News
The invention of the World Wide Web allowed for quicker spread of news • San Jose Mercury News was the first newspaper to have a news site available online. Done through AOL. • By 1996, every news network had a website.
Net Neutrality
The principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally by Internet Service Providers.
Douglas Englebart
Thought computers had the potential to change the world for the better. Presented the "Mother of All Demos." Networked computers with email (Ethernet).
William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984)
Totalitarian control over human-computer interfaces.
Integrated Processors/"Chips"
Transistors no longer needed to be separately soldered onto circuit boards. This new technology allowed for the mass production and reduced costs of computer transistor systems and sparked a communications revolution.
Grace Hopper (1906-1992)
U.S. Navy. Worked on Harvard Mark I. Developed COBOL (Common-Business-Oriented Language) programming language. Popularized "debugging" term for fixing computer glitches.
Five Eyes
US and UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to collaborate on global spying
Two major types of network activity emerged during the 80's
University Internet Systems Internet Service Providers
University-Based Computer Networks
University networks were free to students and faculty with no time limits. Very useful for communication. Computer science students were encouraged to share their software projects. Files were limited to eight characters hence the reason for the short strange software names
Apple Working Model
Until 2013, 20% of employee time was free for experimentation.
Earliest Computing Devices
Used for nautical navigation, machines were more accurate than humans, saved many lives.
Tabulating Machines 1910's-30's
Used punch cards and inserted them into sorters at a rate of 400 cards/minute and 12 bits of info extracted from each card, Reliable, but very slow. So useful that IBM machines were sold around the world.
University Internet Systems
Users had email, ftp (file transfer protocol), and text-only files that were accessed through "gopher" servers.
ARPA/DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)
Wanted to connect three of its computer terminals from different parts of the country together so they sent out a request for proposals of network computing ideas. Winner was BBN.
Bob Metcalfe
Worked at BBN, made the TCP system work for personal computers. Helped tie MIT's computer into ARPANET, created the Ethernet
Ray Tomlinson
Worked for BBN, wanted to extend the capability and expand ARPANET, so he wrote a program that allowed for computers to send and store individual messages aka e-mail. Quickly became a "killer application."
MySpace
o A group working for the company Friendster founded MySpace. o Users could post pictures, videos, comments, and statements about whatever they wanted. o Leading social media site at first, 95 million users and $12 billion in value by 2009.
Role of Social Media in the Arab Spring
o Allowed protesters to organize o Spread information about the injustices against which they were protesting o Circumvented state control o Use of social media nearly doubled during protests. o Governments also started using social media o Spreading misinformation
o Founded by Mark Zuckerberg whose created it as a "hot or not" ranking system for female Harvard students, dropped out of Harvard to pursue it. o Like Google, they did not try to capitalize immediate with heavy advertising that would slow down the site. • Facebook allowed for third-party programmers to create applications, while MySpace kept all its programming work in house and had relatively poor technical performance.
Wikipedia
o Founded by a group of web entrepreneurs led by economist Jimmy Wales and epistemologist Lawrence Sanger in 2001. o Created as a side project to help the website Nupedia. o Saw that their best opportunity for success was if the website was an open source so the removed the barriers to see what would happen. o Goal is to create a free encyclopedia that can be accessed by every person on earth in every language.
Wikipedia Effect
o The invention of the Internet enhanced online collaboration between groups of people working at the same time on larger projects
Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL)
• A computerized counterculture meet-up started by Whole Earth Catalog publisher Stuart Brand in 1985. • Early advantages of a membership included the ability to keep track of concerts by music groups, sharing travel plans, and bootlegged music tapes. • Provided a safe place for people to socialize and express themselves.
Napster
• Audio file sharing service • Federal Court found Napster was infringing on copyright and shut it down in 2001. o Rebooted as a media player
Technologies of Freedom (1983)
• Book by Ithiel de Sola Pool • The idea that satellite and electronic communication would have an impact on human rights. Predicted a convergence of electronic and print technologies in a digital sphere. • The only rational basis of a civil society was to continue expanding free speech and free press in the broadcast and digital technologies as well. It would be a "political error" if free speech values did not apply to all technologies.
Disruptive Media Technologies
• Businesses such as taxis and hotels are unhappy because the new service mean that unregulated, unlicensed, and unqualified businesses are now competing for their customers.
Prodigy
• Commercial ISP • Attempted to cut the high cost of online services with a new business model that included advertising. • Drew revenue from advertising and not just subscription sales (IBM and Sears invest) • Claimed to be family-oriented • Eventually merged with CompuServe, which then merged with America Online.
Common Carrier Act
• Companies such as Verizon that provided a neutral "common carrier" telephone service were encouraged to invest in all kinds of content-related businesses separate from their status as a common carrier.
Craigslist
• Created by Craig Newmark as a minimalist non-profit website for individuals to post local events. • Became the world's leading site for classified advertising. Main reason for drop in newspaper classified advertising revenue. • Most of these items can be advertised for free.
eBay
• Founded by Pierre Omidyar, a computer programmer who worked at an Apple Computer subsidiary. • Wrote the basic code for what was first called AuctionWeb, found that there was a market for people who wanted to buy and sell particular possessions online. • Grossed nearly $9 billion in revenue per year by 2009.
Netflix
• Founded by Reed Hastings in 1997 • Threat to cable providers for its on-demand video movie service.
The Free Software Foundation
• Founded in 1985 • Advocates for free software, free media formats, the GNU system, and open "general public license" (copyleft). • Organizes activist campaigns against what it sees as threats to user freedom in traditional computer operating systems digital rights management.
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
• In 2012, a Texas congressman proposed a bill that would have granted the government far-reaching powers in order to fight online copyright piracy. • Free speech advocates thought this would lead to domains being shut down due to minor or supposed infringements. Google, Wikipedia, and thousands of other websites shut down for a day in protest and the bill was withdrawn as a result.
Protest IP Act (PIPA)
• Infringing websites and domain names would be banned to provide a better intellectual property environment for the Internet.
Edward Snowden
• Leaked information about National Security Agency (NSA) and global surveillance program called "Five Eyes" • Massive controversy, criminal charges. • Secret court orders requiring US phone companies to hand over all phone records every day.
Internet Explorer
• Microsoft licensed Mosaic from the University of Illinois in 1995 • Internet Explorer caught up to Netscape, Netscape couldn't compete and was acquired by AOL. • Widely used because it was bundled with Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft Suit
• Microsoft violated antitrust laws by tying all of its products together. • Altered application programming interfaces (API's) to favor Internet Explorer over other web browsers. • Seen as a "refusal to deal." • U.S. Justice Department sued Microsoft in 1998, for "abusing its monopoly power," dropped when George W. Bush took office in 2001.
America OnLine (AOL)
• Most successful ISP because it had the best GUI, but graphics were pre-loaded. Helpful in navigating a new and complex internet system. • Navigation buttons around the interactive text windows to make it seem more user-friendly. • Simplified the process of connecting to an Internet system for consumers whose telephone companies were not providing Internet.
Open Source Software that grew out of the free software movement.
• PhP and MySQL: Used in content management systems like Wordpress and Drupal • Firefox web browser • Open Office software (similar to MS Office)
Ray Kurzweil
• Predicted that the Soviet Union would be swept away by the growth of decentralized communication.
A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
• Response to CDA, claimed that it was a violation of freedom and the First Amendment. • Written by John Perry Barlow, Grateful Dead lyricist and one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. • Wanted independence outside of government because the "global social space we are building is naturally independent of the tyrannies you see to impose on us." • The internet gave power to the people.
Reno v. ACLU (1997)
• Supreme Court endorsed freedom of speech, struck down portions of the CDA. • Ruled that the Internet and web was considered protected media under the First Amendment • Court said that ISP's were not responsible for libel and copyright violations made by others who were simply using the ISP as a common carrier.