IGE105 – Communication Technology in a Changing World

Dr. Ken CoshWeek 10

Recap…

Last Week We talked about the future of ICT Ubiquitous Computing

Technology blends into the environment Technology is pervasive with touchpoints

throughout Augmented / Virtual Reality

This Week

Originally the plan was: Politics

And how ICT is impacting on politics But…

So instead, Regulation Regulation in Cyberspace

But First

Briefly, How has ICT affected Politics?

Electronic Voting Machines Censorship Connection between politicians and

population Tweeting

What else?

Regulation

Lawrence Lessig Professor of Law and Harvard Law School

(previously at Stanford) Author of

Free Culture The Future of Ideas Code and the other Laws of Cyberspace

The Laws of Cyberspace

Lessig argues… The world is regulated by four

constraints Law Social Norm Market Architecture

Law

Law regulates by sanctions ex-post Don’t pay tax -> Go to jail Steal my car -> Go to jail

But while Law is an obvious regulator, it is not the only regulator. You don’t always go to jail for not paying

taxes.

Social Norms

Regulate behaviour by “what I ought to do” I ought to wear a shirt (& tie), rather than

a dress You ought to sit and listen to me for a

while

The Market

Markets through the mechanism of ‘price’ regulates opportunities Price dictates what I can afford The price also dictates what I can charge

for various abilities People would spend less on “The greatest

hits of Dr. Ken” than they would on “Madonna’s greatest hits”

Architecture

The architecture of the world regulates our abilities We can’t see through walls We can’t come to class if we are in a

wheelchair We can’t fly…

4 Regulators

The ‘real world’ is regulated by a combination of these 4 regulators

As we consider regulating the cyberspace world, the same 4 regulators have an impact

Laws in Cyberspace

Laws exist in cyberspace, and are punishable Copyright law Defamation law Sexual harrassment law

Behaviour is constrained by law, just as in the real world.

Social Norms in Cyberspace

Social norms also constrain cyberspace Forum rules Banning / Kicking from chat rooms

Market in Cyberspace

Prices in cyberspace also constrain that world. We can access a wider market, but the

price still constrains us.

Architecture in Cyberspace It exists, but is different from the

architecture of the real world Hardware / Software Protocols Password to gain access Encryption Tracking transactions

We can’t choose whether to obey the architecture (just as in the real world) Unless we are a hacker…

Regulating Cyberspace

Cyberspace then is regulated with the same 4 regulators Law Social Norm Market Architecture

Lets think about ‘Porn’ A lot of people have raised a lot of

concerns about the amount of porn available on the web. And how easy it is to access it Moreover how easy it is for minors to

access it But there is plenty of porn in the ‘real

world’ too How is it regulated?

Real World Porn Law: It is against the law for distributors to

sell porn to minors. Social Norm: Generally society looks down

on distributing porn to minors. Market: Porn is priced such that minors

can’t really afford it.

All of these also apply to the cyberspace world. So what about architecture?

Architecture

In the real world. Fake moustache? Stilts? Deep voice?

In Cyberspace Default anonymity

The Architecture

Because the architecture of cyberspace is different from the real world, regulation of cyberspace is different But there is no one single architecture of

the web Organisations / Governments have

choices about what architecture to use

Choice of Architecture What happens when you try to surf the web

at Payap? How is it different from my old university?

If I encrypt a message, is it truly encrypted? Or could the government read it anyway?

What happens if I go to a website considered ‘detrimental to society’ in Thailand?

Choice of Architecture

Can I host my porn site in the US? Or my gambling site?

Can anyone see my drunken tagged photos on facebook? Can I control who can see them?

Control vs Freedom

Traditionally the web is considered a free space

But there is a choice of architectures allowing control over that space Controlling Access Controlling Use Controlling Privacy

The Constitution

A nation’s constitution then often guides the architecture Architecture of Control Architecture of Freedom

Consider the architecture used in the US vs Burma vs China…

Encryption Software We’ll come back to discuss encryption

again later, but The ability to (or not to) be completely

anonymous in cyberspace is a big issue. It affects the regulability of cyberspace

The ability for governments to regulate our activities online.

It also affects basic human rights Freedom of Speech Right to Privacy

Back to the “Real World”

We have passports Travel is restricted based on passports Movements are tracked by passports Criminals are identified by passports

In some countries the burden of passports is greater than others Government policies to stop peasants

from flooding cities during famines

Cyberworld ID Consider having online passports

Great! Catch the criminals with minimal burden on the

innocent

Awful! Loss of freedom – complete government control

What do you think?