”i-law” (Internet Law) (Harvard University / i-Law) course organized every summer by Harvard University Law School’s “Berkman Center of Internet Law for Internet and Community”, making studies on cyber-law issues, will take place in Stanford University Law School this summer.
In the program, organized in cooperation with “Stanford Internet and Community Center”, where worldwide-known law professors will also join, cyber-law issues will be discussed by those who prepare cyber-law acts in USA and other countries of the world.
Harvard University Law School has also invited Avniye Tansug (www.Tansug.com), one of the founders of IvHP, who has been studying on “Internet and Law” field continually during recent years and making a radio program titled as Internet and Law for the last two years in Acik Radyo, to participate in the course program. We immediately directed the below written questions related with this issue to Tansug:
turk-internet.com : Could you give us information about the “i-law” course?
Avniye Tansug : Harvard has been carrying out studies on Internet law research since 1997 via “Berkman Center”, established for this purpose and being supported by the private sector, and it also organizes some courses from time to time. It is possible to join some of them on-line, via the internet. Beginning as studies limited to those in the US, the studies have become international during the past few years. This is an advancement compatible with the nature of the Internet, for sure.
“i-law” titled courses are the ones which are on-line at the beginning and then changes into on-site and a certain enrollment payment is required. There is an on-going argument at this point. Everybody brings the practices of his/her own country and produces ideas about what the best common solution can be. But before that, there is a pre-training. Every week the basic text (“module”) of an issue is displayed on the course’s page http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw on the web. Participants “study their lessons” on that issue during that week and ask questions or discuss on-line again.
Modules of this course began to be publicized at the beginning of last May. Among sub-titles there are issues such as “copyrights” and “copying”, choices for intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression, legal regulation of on-line connectivity, cyber crimes, patents for on-line business methods, domain names and power dispute of jurisdiction.
turk-internet.com : Who participates? What are the terms for participation? Can anyone join?
Avniye Tansug : Participant profile, as envisaged by the organisers, includes: “Lawyers, attorneys, politicians, entrepreneurs, educationists, Internet publishers and journalists, academicians specialized on this issue.” Participation requires that your curriculum vitae comply with this profile and of course, ability to meet the costs of the course. If you do not have such a budget, they can use the sponsors of this activity as mediators, make an investigation about you then invite you. Thus, that’s how I participate.
turk-internet.com : Who lectures in the course?
Avniye Tansug : This course program includes Prof. William Fisher-III, Prof. Charles Nesson and Prof. Jonathan Zittrain from Harvard University Law Faculty, Prof. Lawrence Lessig from Stanford University Law Faculty, Prof. Yochai Benkler from Yale University Law Faculty… Guest lecturers include Glenn Otis Brown (chairperson of “Creative Commons”), Reed E. Hundt (chairperson of “FCC- Federal Communications Commission”), Fred von Lohmann and Wendy Seltzer (legal advisors of EFF- “Electronic Frontier Foundation), Alex Macgillivray, “Intellectual Property” advisor of “Google”, Jason Matusow, on of the strategists of Microsoft, Leslie Vadasz, one of the former managers of Intel and Mark Chandler, General Advisor of Cisco.
turk-internet.com : What is the purpose of this course? Do you think the course contributes IvHP?
Avniye Tansug : The purpose of the course is to search and discuss a common solution for problems arising from legislation of Internet with the contributions of the participants coming from 30-40 countries. Contributions of the course to IvHP will probably be by sharing the latest information on this issue via our communication network YahooGroups.com/Internet and Law groups.
In this period during which we are re-structuring IvHP, a more effective participation and more disciplined cooperation is required especially from academicians. In this issue, I will try to collect some clues by exchanging experience with other participants (on issues such as how an ngo establishment can get specialized in a country like ours and how this can affect those who shape politics and prepare the acts, how it can succeed to keep the right policy and organize with principles). I am in contact with some other international platforms on this issue as well.
turk-internet.com : How are you planning to evaluate your knowledge, after you return?
Avniye Tansug : First of all, I will try to obtain some records for Acik Radyo’s (“Open Radio” in English) radio program “Internet and Law” (Açık Radyo / İnternet ve Hukuk Programı). Long since, we have had an agenda to start “E-Turkey+” project beginning by forming a synergy in cooperation with ÇEKÜL Foundation (www.cekulvakfi.org.tr), wherein I work, and Association of Historical Cities (http://tarihikentlerbirligi.org) as well as TBV. We aim to protect cultural heritage in scope of its basin and regional development. Long since we have been working on this issue with our dear IvHP Coordinator Tuncer Üney. For instance, in this context, we formed a project for the “Kelkit Platform”, which we established via ÇEKÜL. Most recently, in the 3rd Turkish-Greek Information Community Forum (www.Gr-Tr-Forum2003.gr ) held in Rhodes, we observed how our neighbor Greece and other Balkan states thrive to become an “INFORMATION SOCIETY”…
Actually, as for us, a national mobilization by public- local- civilian – private sector cooperation is necessary. It is only “our” problem of course, there will be discussed much more original and law-technique related issues but I will try to collect some beneficial information with this point of view! Hopefully, we can share lots of things from here (turkinternet.com) also!
