Law School Class Will Use Internet

Imagine taking a course but never having to see the professor, teaching fellows or other students.

A new interdisciplinary seminar at Harvard Law School, titled "Information, Law and Public Policy," could begin to make this a reality.

The course, which will meet weekly in a law school classroom, will also take place over the Internet. So far 20 students have registered for the for-credit seminar, but organizers say many more students and faculty may participate via computer.

The seminar, which will begin on February 27, is the first of its kind at Harvard to be mounted on the World Wide Web, an information sharing system that allows people to interact with and navigate the Internet--a global data communications network.

Students who want to participate in the course can do so by sending an e-mail message to cyber@hulaw1.harvard.edu. These students will receive weekly updates on seminar activity. In addition, readings for the course and student papers will be available on-line, according to organizers.

The seminar is guided by the premise that cyberspace will be defined "as much by law as by technology," said Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson '60, who is the primary creator and promoter of the course.

"Basically professor Nesson has been very interested in bringing technology to people who might otherwise be left out, and that was his motivation for this class," said organizer and second-year law student Thomas E. Smuts.

The course, which will be team-taught by a rotation of guest lecturers, will explore the policy and legal conflicts raised by the issues of copyright and information piracy, libel, liability, personal privacy and national security.

The course will be "an excellent way to get a grip on the emerging issues of law, business and public policy in cyberspace," Nesson said.

The professor said he hopes that this new cyber-friendly seminar will become an "institution" at the law school.

Bromley Professor of Law Arthur R. Miller, a leading authority in the field of copyright and privacy and a legal correspondent for "Good Morning America," will moderate the seminar.

Nesson said many experts from various fields of technology have been very willing to speak on cyberspace issues for the seminar.

Among those expected to guest lecture are John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Tom Lemberg, chief counsel for Lotus Development, and Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT media lab.

The seminar will be supported by a grant from the Harvard Technology Fund and ABC/Capital Cities.