Special Assignment: Digital Technologies and Shifting Balances of Power

Lessig says one can use code to construct a libertarian world or a world of near-perfect control. The former would empower individuals, the latter governments or large corporations to the detriment of individuals. And it can empower individuals for free speech, or to commit financial fraud.

Digital technology can grant unlimited free access to music (e.g., Napster) or it can severely restrict access by building copyright protection right into the music itself (e.g., Secure Digital Music Initiative). The former empowers consumers, the latter producers of music. To some, Napster is the most efficient way to distribute music; to others, it actively facilitates intellectual property theft.

Lets do a little experiment to assess how digital technologies may shift the balance of power in our immediate environment, an area we are all familiar with writing papers. The Internet is a phenomenal research tool, but the opportunities it provides can also challenge intellectual honesty.

· Read the following, short articles:

o John N. Hickman, Cybercheats: term-paper shopping online, The New Republic, 23 March 1998, p. 14.

o Kendra Mayfield, Catching Digital Cheaters, Wired News, 29 February 2000.

o Diana Jean Schemo, U. of Virginia Hit by Scandal Over Cheating, The New York Times, 10 May 2001, P. A1.

· Your GSI should have already paired you with another student from your section. Half of you should be writers and the other half researchers.

· Writers:

o Write a paragraph or two on any topic you like (e.g., Mozart, the Civil War, space travel, the tourism industry in North Dakotaetc.).

o Make sure that a good chunk of what you write is copied directly from a website. DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE(S)!

o E-mail your mini paper to your partner from section, and cc your GSI. Please do so by Sunday!

· Researchers:

o Once you receive the mini paper from your partner, try to find the unacknowledged web source(s) that were used to write the paper. You may use any of the tools mentioned in the articles you have read, or any other tools you can think of.

o Document your findings, and bring them to section next week.