(Ch. 6, Lessig reading for March 3):
In cyberspaces, Lessig argues that cyberspace is about different functionalities that afford variety in the ways we do things. It is not necessarily a “brave new world, in the sense of being fundamentally different. From your experiences in Second Life, you can probably understand (agree or disagree) whether there is something unique about interactions in these spaces and how they are regulated.
So, Q. 1: How does Lessig argue that life in cyberspace is regulated? How is code a regulator? (p. 115 onward)–explain using DRM systems as an example and DMCA (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act–p. 117).
Q. 2.: Based on your experiences online, what does virtual community mean to you? Give examples of cyber spaces and cyber places where you have been, and explain what makes them a place (p. 89)? Similarly, in what sense does space have values (p. 85–86)? What types of people did early Net enable? What does power and control have to do with it?
Q. 3. How does Lessig define and describe Second Life (p. 105)? Compare and contrast with your own experiences and try your hand at your own definition of “virtual world.”
Q. 4. How is cyberspace different from the Internet (p. 111)? What does architecture have to do with it (p. 113)?
Communication and Technology 