Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and other network surveillance techniques have become important factors in the policy debate over online copyright infringement. These new technical capabilities reopened an old debate about the responsibility of internet service providers (ISPs) for policing the internet. This paper attempts to understand the extent to which new technological capabilities have the power to alter regulatory principles. It examines political conflict and negotiation over proposals to use DPI for online copyright enforcement in the EU and the USA, using a hybrid of actor-network theory from science, technology and society studies and actor-centered institutionalism in political science. It shows that while the technology disrupted a policy equilibrium, neither the EU nor the US applied DPI to copyright policing in a way that realized its radical potential. The key factor preventing such an integrated response was the disjunction between the interests of network operators and the interests of copyright holders.

For the first 25 years, three-dimensional printing was the domain of industrial manufacturing and engineering. Through the open-source movement and peer production, this disruptive technology has become more widely available. This article considers how the future development and use of three-dimensional printing may be facilitated or inhibited through intellectual property law and practice. Using a combination of technical, legal, and policy analysis, we conclude that the potential for patent infringement is a primary issue in the continued development of three-dimensional printing technology. When it comes to the printed objects themselves, copyright issues will be the main focus of this debate. As these issues become more pervasive, some copyright holders will find technology-based solutions to enforce copyright laws and restrict printing activities. A common recourse is digital rights management as a means for protecting intellectual property, but its use has the potential for imposing unnecessarily stringent limitations on the use of three-dimensional printing.

No abstract

Connecting Internet access with freedom of expression and creativity.

This workshop will provide a unique opportunity to consider how making and fixing, practices which frequently take place during the course of academic research, can provide unique, different and insightful research perspectives. To actively explore the connection between making and research, each participant will be asked to create a tangible artifact prior to the workshop which will serve as an embodiment of his/her research or some aspect of this research. The term tangible artifact is used broadly here and can include artifacts produced using various mediums. The guiding questions are: 1) How can the process of making challenge us to be more self-reflective and critical about the research we are conducting? 2) Can making add a dimension of tangibility to research that is distinct from other research activities? 3) How can reflecting on making and telling stories about the making process illuminate and stimulate learning and assist in research conceptualization?