SEG-UY 2124W Public Policy Issues and the Internet: A Global Perspective

4 Credits

Following years of government-funded computer-research programs, successful communication between computers was accomplished in 1969, the start of the Internet era. The World Wide Web, created to facilitate the acquisition of information on the Internet, followed 20 years later. This course traces the history of the Internet, heralded as the free, open exchange of information among people all over the globe, and explores the maelstrom of complex issues that have arisen to thwart this idealistic dream of its planners: censorship, net neutrality, privacy and the social media, the role of the Internet as a political force, cybersecurity, copyright infringement, consumer tracking, street mapping. These and other controversial global issues are considered from the standpoint of the problems they pose and the policies of the various governments toward them.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of first year writing requirements
Note: Satisfies a humanities and social sciences elective.