The Law School Goes High Tech

With the barrage of new technology and the subsequent increase in policy implications, a new think tank was needed to provide some answers.

Enter the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which was founded in 1997 at Harvard Law School to perform original research and to study the impact of the Internet on society.

According to the Center's Web site, the Berkman Center aims to explore and understand cyberspace without getting mired in theory or Utopian visions.

Donna Wentworth, assistant to Center Director, Charles R. Nesson '60, said the Berkman Center strives to answer the question "What are we going to do?"

The Center is funded by a 5.4-million-dollar donation from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman and has garnered widespread attention since its inception because of its talented faculty, fellows and associates.

The center's diverse knowledge base includes Simson Garfinkel, a frequent contributor to Wired Magazine, and John P. Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a Institute of Politics fellow this semester.

Prominent faculty member Lawrence L. Lessig is currently adjudicating the Microsoft judicial hearings, and Center Director Nesson has been dubbed the "Dean of Cyberspace" for his contributions and leadership in the field.

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society recently hosted a conference titled "Digital China/Harvard" and another one called "Technorealism" in March.

It is also offering Harvard Law School's first class via Internet. Bromley Professor of Law Arthur Miller teaches a class on privacy in cyberspace, in which students from all over the world may enroll without cost.

The Center will host the Second International Conference on Internet and Society in May to address issues of security, property and quality. Renowned thinkers in the field, such as Scott G. McNealy and Esther Dyson, '71, will be present.

Although the Center has a home on its very own Web server at cyber.harvard.edu, it is physically scattered across two buildings--Pound and Hauser Halls--on the Law School campus.

Undergraduates may also take advantage of the Berkman Center through volunteer and research assistant positions.