http://map.harvard.edu/level2.cfm?mapname=camb_allston&tile=F6&series=W
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Please join the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School for a party and discussion featuring Professor Jonathan Zittrain and his new book The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It.

Details
======
Free and Open to the Public, please feel free to forward widely

A reception will follow. Hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served.
RSVPs are helpful but not required. RSVP to Rebecca Tabasky at [email protected]

About the Book
===========
North Korean radios that are altered to receive only the official stations. Cars that listen in on their owners' conversations. Digital video recorders ordered to self-destruct in viewers' homes thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. Jonathan Zittrain's extraordinary book pieces together the engine that has catapulted the Internet ecosystem into the prominence it has today—and explains that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of consumers, the Internet is on a path to a lockdown, a closing off of opportunities and innovation.

Zittrain explains that the Internet and much of what is built on top of it is "generative"—it welcomes change from anyone, anywhere. The benefits of generativity are innovative output (new things that improve people's lives), and participatory input (the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them, and express oneself). But security issues online, like viruses, spyware, and invasions of privacy, will see this generative infrastructure replaced by fashionable "tethered appliances," including iPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos. These devices are not generative—they can't be modified easily by users, even as they are continuously regulated and controlled by their makers. Zittrain offers an accessible discussion of the looming problems of an "appliancized" future and provides a set of visionary solutions to help stop it.

About Jonathan Zittrain
================
Jonathan Zittrain is the Jack N. & Lillian R. Berkman Visiting Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, where he co-founded its Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and the Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University.

Official Website: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/berkmanat10/2008/04/zittraincambridge

Added by berkmancenter on April 11, 2008