Class Meetings: Thursdays, 1-4pm, 4-153
Instructors: Abelson, Fischer, Weitzner
Communication Instructors: Trice +1
TA: Emily Cheng, Shreya Tripireddy
Click on the individual weeks below to see the overview and the assignments for each class, including the assignment to be completed as preparation before the class. Links will be updated throughout the course.
Each student will participate in writing a large-scale research & writing project with others in the class.
Email 6.4590-staff@mit.edu for general questions.
Note that there is an assignment due on Sept. 4, which is before the first class.
| Week | Lecture topic, readings, and assignment | Team project milestones | Workshops |
| 0: Pre-semester assignment | Assignment 0: Briefing Judicial Opinions, due 9/4 | ||
| 1: Introduction to Internet Policy | Class 9/5: Introduction to Internet Law and Policy | ||
| Theme 1: Free Speech in the Internet (platform) environment | |||
| 2: First Amendment rights in print, broadcast, and on the Internet | Class 9/12: Internet Freedom of Expression Assignment due by 9/124, 5pm: Reno v ACLU Brief | ||
| Theme 2: Surveillance, Privacy Rights and Law Enforcement | |||
| 3: Fourth amendment fundametals | Class 9/19: Fourth Amendment basics and electronic surveillance Before class: Readings and Blenderbot.ai | Due 9/20: Students submit preferences & schedules | |
| 4: Fourth Amendment and Location Privacy | Class 9/26: Location privacy & third party doctrine | Workshop #1: Research Practice & Policy Sources | |
| 5: Moot Court (Rosh HaShanah Day 1 - alternate class meeting also available on Sept 30) | Class 10/03: Moot Court on Fourth Amendment issues (Meets at BU Law School in their Moot Court Room) See document for individual roles and assignments (due at various times!) | Due 10/03: Individual research assignment: bibliography | Workshop #2: Policy Writing & Policy Genres |
| 6: Platform & Intermediary Liability | Class 10/10: Section 230 and Platform Liability Historical Backdrop Fourth Amendment Fundamentals (Prof Dogan lectures) | Workshop #3: Policy Reasoning & Collaboration | |
| 7: Copyright | Class 10/27: Copyright Law and Internet Platforms Please read the cases and prepare for the in-class exercise | Due 10/17: Team plan | Workshop #4: Policy Structure: Summaries & Introductions |
| 8: Content Moderation | Class 10/24: Current Technical and Public Policy issues in disinformation and content moderation | Workshop #5: Policy Structure: Body Arguments & Recommendations | |
| 9: Congressional Hearing | 10/31: Congressional Hearing on platform regulation | Due 10/30: Project proposal | |
| 10: Copyright and AI | Class 11/7: Challenges of applying copyright law to modern AI systems (Prof Dogan lecturing) | Workshop #5: Policy Structure: Body Arguments & Recommendations | |
| 11: Consumer privacy basics in the United States | Class 11/14: The How and Why Privacy? A US legal perspective | Due 11/14: Full draft due | |
| 12: AI Regulation | Class 11/21: Emerging AI Regulation in the EU and United States (Prof. Dogan lecturing) | Workshop #6: Responding To Reviewer Comments | |
| Thanksgiving (Nov 28-29) | |||
| 13: Final Project Presentations | Class 12/05: No readings! | Due 12/05: Final papers | |
| 12/11: Last Day of Classes | |||