Peer2Politics

Yochai Benkler and his colleagues at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society have used innovative research tools - including Media Cloud - to map and analyze news stories as they evolve online. Benkler presents two case studies, one on the SOPA-PIPA debate over copyright law and one on the net neutrality debate, to explore the dynamics of the networked public sphere.  His team's results support an optimistic view of the potential for networked democratic participation, he argues, and offers a view of a vibrant, diverse, and decentralized networked public sphere that exhibits broad participation, leverages topical expertise, and focuses public sentiment to shape national public policy.

What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto -- a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume.

The date is set: On Feb. 11, the Internet will finally formally protest the type of spying revealed by former National Security Agencycontractor Edward Snowden.