Public Policy, Law, and Ethics in Information Networking
    Prepared for the Virtual College at Fort Hays State Uinversity

                                             phone: 785-628-5578
                                             e-mail: amorin@fhsu.edu

Texts for Spring 2004

    Philip M. Napoli. 2001. Foundations of Communications Policy  Principles and Process in the Regulation of Electronic Media. Hampton Press. ISBN: 1-57273-342-X
    Sharon K. Black. 2002. Telecommunications Law in the Internet Age. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN: 1-55860-546-0
    Jennifer Manner. 2002. Global Telecommunications Market Access. Artech House. ISBN: 1-58053-306-X
    Anton, Silberglitt, Schneider. 2001. The Global Technology Revolution  Bio/Nano/Materials Trends and Their Synergies with Information Technology by 2015. RAND. ISBN: 0-8330-2949-5. Available as a "downloadable PDF file" at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1307/MR1307.pdf - click here

If you read 20 pages a day, not including Saturdays, Sundays, or Spring Break, you will finish all of the books significantly before the end of the semester.

At the beginning of the semester I will be providing information about
    1) simple and complex networks
    2) the policy process

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. You will gain an understanding of IN.
     and class participation.
2. You will gain understanding of the policy process.
3. You will understand that there are regulatory agencies, legislative (sub)committees,
     corporations, etc. that have interest or investment in information networking.
4. You will gain an understanding of telecommunications policy issues at the subnational,
     national, and international levels
5. You gain some appreciation of the ethical questions relating to IN.

If at any time you have a question about the books or assignments, please contact me.  Regarding assignments: do not cheat or plagiarize.  If you cheat or plagiarize, it is grounds for receiving a failing grade in the course.  For FHSU's policy on Academic Honesty, click here.   In order to earn an "A" in the class, you will need to earn at least 90% of what is possible.  In order to earn a "B" in the class, you will need to earn at least 83% of what is possible.  In order to earn a "C" in the class, you will need to earn at least 73% of what is possible.  In order to earn a "D" in the class, you will need to earn at least 63% of what is possible.  Otherwise you will receive a "U" for a grade.

Assignments

ASSIGNMENT ONE: Make sure you participate in the
Blackboard discussions on a regular basis.  You must
make at least one comment to each 'topic' that is posted.
To access the blackboard site simply click here. Worth
500 points.

ASSIGNMENT TWO: List the offices and bureaus of The FCC .
Worth 25 points.  Due January 20.  Please send as an e-mail
attachment.

ASSIGNMENT THREE
Part one: The Subcommittee on Communications
of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Space and Transportation
held a hearing relating to E-911.  Summarize the hearing in a
two-page report (click here for the hearing).  Worth 150 points.
Due February 1.  Please send as an e-mail attachment.

Part two: Check out the letter from the Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
to the FCC (click  here).  Briefly explain the issue, then summarize the
material in the second, third, and fourth links found in the section labeled
"Related Documents."  Worth 150 points. Due February 5.  Please
send as an e-mail attachment.

ASSIGNMENTS FOUR THROUGH 13: Provide a one-page
summary of each chapter in the Black book. Each summary is
worth 25 points.  Due no later than the 15th of February.
Please send these outlines as e-mail attachments.

ASSIGNMENT 14: Write a two-to-three page (not necessarily
negative) critique of the Black book  Worth 100 points. Due
no later than the 15th of February.  Please send this critique as
an e-mail attachment.

ASSIGNMENT 15-26: Provide a one-page summary of each
chapter in the Napoli book. Each summary is worth 25 points.
Due no later than the 10th of March.  Please send these
summaries as e-mail attachments.

ASSIGNMENT 27: Write a two-to-three page (not necessarily
negative) critique of the Napoli book. Worth 100 points.
Due no later than the 10th of March.  Please send this critique
as an e-mail attachment.

ASSIGNMENTS 28-37: Provide a one-page summary of each
chapter in the Manner book. Each summary is worth 25 points.
Due no later than April 1.  Please send the summaries as e-mail
attachments.

ASSIGNMENT 38: Write a two-to-three page (not necessarily
negative) critique of the Manner book. Worth 100 points.
Due no later than April 1.  Please send this assignment as an
e-mail attachment.

ASSIGNMENT 39: List and discuss five ethical issues relating to
INT that in your opinion come out of the Anton, et al book.  This essay
should be at least six pages long.  Use at least ten other sources and
make sure to cite them properly and list them in a 'Works Cited' page.
Worth 800 points.  Due no later than May 5.  Please send as an
e-mail attachment.
 

Related material

Click here for links to jobs in the national government, jobs in the government of the state of Kansas, and to graduate degrees.  For a list of on-line sources, including a link to hundreds of libraries, click here.

Titles of Interest:

    Aufderheide, Patricia. 1999. Communications Policy and the Public Interest  The Telecommunications Act of 1996. New York: The Guilford Press.
    Auletta, Ken. 2001. World War 3.0  Microsoft and Its Enemies. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0-375-50366-8
     Borgmann, Albert. 1999. Holding On to Reality  The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millenium. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
    Brenner, Daniel L. 1996. Law and Regulation of Common Carriers in the Communications Industry, Second Edition. Boulder and Oxford: Westview Press, Inc. ISBN: 0-8133-2740-7
    Burkhart, Gary E. and Susan Older. 2003. The Information Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa. RAND.
    Carter, T. Barton, Marc A. Franklin, and Jay Wright. 1999. The First Amendment and the Fifth Estate  Regulation of Electronic Mass Media, Fifth Edition. New York: Foundation Press. ISBN: 1-56662-811-3
    Chandler, Alfred D., Jr. and James W. Cortada. 2000. A Nation Transformed by Information  How Information Shaped the United States from Colonial Times to Present. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
    Heim, Michael. 1998. Virtual Realism. Oxford University Press.
    Hachigian, Nina and Lily Wu. 2003. The Information Revolution in Asia. RAND
    Hundley, Richard O., Robert H. Anderson, Tara K. Kikson, and C. Richr Neu. 2003. The Global Course of the Information Revolution  Recurring Themes and Variations. RAND.
    Klingler, Richard. 1996. The New Information Industry  Regulatory Challenges and the First Amendment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
    Lessig, Lawrence. 1999. Code And Other Laws of Cyberspace. New York: Basic Books. ISBN: 0-465-03912-X.
    Lessig. Lawrence. 2001. The Future of Ideas  The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. Random House. ISBN: 0-375-50578-4
    Ludlow, Peter, editor. 2001. Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias. Cambridge, MA and London: The MIT Press.
    Napoli, Philip M. 2001. Foundations of Communications Policy  Principles and Process in the Regulation of Electronic Media. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc. ISBN: 1-57273-342-x
        Newman, Nathan. 2002. Net Loss  Internet Prophets, Private Profits, and the Costs to Community. Penn State University Press. ISBN: 0-271-02205-1
    Nylund, Eric. 1998. Signal to Noise. New York: Avon Books.
    Pare, Daniel. 2003. Internet Governance in Transition  Who is the Master of This Domain?  Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 0-7425-1846-9
    Ronfeldt, David, John Arquilla, Graham E. Fuller, and Melissa Fuller. 1998. The Zapatista Social Netwar in Mexico. Santa Monica: RAND. ISBN: 0-8330-2656-9
    Tehranian, Majid. 1999. Global Communication and World Politics  Domination, Development, and Discourse. Boulder, Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc./ISEA.

Sources relevant to the policy-making process in the U.S.

                                 click here for the U.S. Constitution
                                 click here  for national government
                                 click here for a lengthy explanation of how national laws are made
                                 click here for the federal budget
                                 click here for Kansas state government
                                 click here for links to other states
                                        includes information about telecommunications regulation
                                 click here to see Hotbot's links for "City of Hays"
                                 click here and here for other sites relating to Hays
                                 click here for background on Marbury v. Madison
                                 click here for Federal Register
                                 click here to see part of how the utilities regulatory process works
                                   in Kansas (thanks to Professor Mark Bannister for bringing this
                                   site to my attention)
                                 FCC's web site on The Telecommunications Act of 1996
                                     click here for the text of the Act

A site relating to the policy process - nationally and internationally

                                click here the beginnings of an analysis of the INT policy arena

                                click  here to access brief descriptions in the CIA Factbook of
                                          countries around the world;
                                click  here for United Nations;
                                click  here for Organization for Economic Cooperation and
                                          Development;
                                click  here for links to Non-Governmental Organizations