Mission

Much of the Information Society Project’s focus has been on memes, genes, and bits, the building blocks of our knowledge, our technologies, and ourselves. Memes are the fundamental units of the knowledge within a culture, propagating from one mind to another, flowing from one society to the next. Genes are the hereditary units that determine the makeup of organisms; they define who and what we are. And bits are the basic units of digital computing, fueling the rise of powerful information and communication technologies.

The Information Society Project brings together students, scholars, activists, and policymakers to define the problems and identify the solutions on topics stemming from the interplay between memes, genes, and bits in our contemporary information society. The ISP produces scholarship, teaches, engages in activism, and develops and spreads ideas addressing key research areas:

• Protecting and expanding access to knowledge to secure broader participation in cultural, civic, and educational affairs, help realize the benefits of scientific and technological advancement, and inspire innovation, development, and social progress across the globe.
• Developing legal rules, policy frameworks, and technical architectures to promote civil liberties online, including the preservation of privacy, freedom of speech, and individual liberty online.
• Providing teachers and students with better access to digital education through the development of norms, policies and regulations that promote the best use of technological resources in education – giving educators the access they need to digital information, while at the same time protecting content producers.
• Addressing the complex legal, social. ethical, and policy impacts of the genomic revolution, including outlining the benefits and harms created by intellectual property and patent claims on biological entities.
• Encouraging intellectual property reform and innovation, including expanding the recognition of exceptions and limitations to IP, and the creation of innovative technological and legal alternatives to strict intellectual property regimes.