SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 435-4

INFORMATION RIGHTS IN THE INFORMATION AGE

Prerequisites:

75 credit hours, including CMNS 261 and one of CMNS 253, 333, 334, 335 or 353. Students without the prerequisite may be admitted to the course with the permission of the instructor. Students will need access to the Internet on a regular basis.

Overview:

This course surveys information rights -- one foundation of a democratic society -- and how those rights, ironically, are being challenged in the so-called information age. These rights include: the right of citizens to have access to essential information; the right of groups and nations to communicate their views and values to the rest of the world; the right of individuals to control access to information about themselves; the right of creators and society to benefit from original works. We look at the origins of these rights, how they affect our lives, and the major organizations and institutions shaping them: national and international government agencies, the courts, the information industry (communications carriers, computer network companies. content providers), public interest and activist groups. How does the trend to commercialization of information affect information rights? What is the future of public information and libraries? We survey the evolution of national information policies, and the role played by increasingly by the Internet. The key question is: Will the Internet facilitate or impede the realization of information rights? Finally we look at means to reinvigorate information rights. Our focus will be variously local, national and international.


Required and Additional Readings:

A course reader will be available for purchase from the SFU Bookstore. Some documents will be available on the Internet. A detailed outline, list of readings and description of assignments will be provided at the first class.


Proposed Grading Distribution:

(to be confirmed at the first class)

Week-by-week outline:

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Information rights and responsibilities – a survey
Week 3: Privacy rights in the public sector
Week 4: Privacy rights in the private sector
Week 5: Information access rights -- government information in digital formats
Week 6: Information access rights -- libraries in the digital age
Week 7: Information access rights -- commercial Internet and digital divide
Week 8: Information access rights -- intellectual property or public resource?
Week 9: Intellectual property and the Internet
Week 10: Communication rights -- New World Information Order and the Global Information Infrastructure
Week 11 Key players: governments -- setting information policies
Week 12: Key players: information industry -- earning profits
Week 13: Key players: citizen groups -- defending information rights

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty," and "Academic Discipline" (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).