Second Term Assignment – Sosc2080/89 – Information and Technology

M-L Craven (mlc@yorku.ca) - Distributed January 2003

General Topic: “Analyse the recent position(s) taken by the Canadian government (or a provincial government or a foreign government) in one public policy issue related to networked computers.” (See specific topics below.)

Important NOTES about this assignment:

1. A penalty for late submission will be assessed on a per day basis including weekends: at 2 marks lost each day late.

2. Tutorial leaders will indicate where your paper is to be handed in. It cannot be handed in to the main Social Science office or to the Course Director.

3. Plagiarism will result in 0 on the assignment and there will be no opportunity to rewrite; as well, students found guilty of plagiarism are not eligible later to drop the course. Students will be required to submit an electronic copy to the course director (as well as a hard-copy to tutorial leaders); all essays will be submitted to anti-plagiarism software. Procedural details will be distributed on the web.

Dates Due:

Value: Proposal + annotated webography/bibliography 5%
Finished paper 15%

First Stage (5%)
The proposal is essentially a statement of intent for the paper with an annotated web-ography/bibliography.

The annotated Bibliography/Webography needs to include a minimum of four (4) sources (from web sites and from sources available from the York libraries – print and/or e-resources). Each source must be presented in a complete and accurate bibliographic entry using the MLA Format; consult Quick Access). Given that we spent some time in first term looking at how to find resources in the York library system, you are expected to show in your selections of materials your ability to successfully search online. (Remember the offer of help from York’s librarians available both online and face-to-face.)

Each entry is to be followed by an short annotation (approx. 50 words) offering detail about:
- the specific nature of the material discussed in the source,
- the apparent reliability of the source, and
- specific relevance of the source to your chosen topic.

(In other words, we want something much more than "This web site / article is all about my topic, so it will be very useful in my research on my topic.") Annotations are to be in sentences and paragraphs -- no lists or point from.

The proposal should be approximately one page and needs to include:
- the specific topic you’ve chosen,
- the current level of Canadian or Provincial or foreign government involvement in this area,
- the specific questions which you hope to answer in the paper through discussion and further research.

The final paper will include a thesis, and a complete webography/bibliography. It will follow conventions of grammar and spelling (use Quick Access for reference) . All use of others’ ideas must be acknowledged (see note # 3 above). The paper should be 8-10 pages long + Bibliography.

Background to topics:

Feather, in his article in the kit, “The political dimension: Information, the state and the citizen” maintains that the state can “intervene in four ways between the information owner and the information-seeker” It can pass laws to 1) protect copyright, 2) protect data, 3) facilitate access to rightful information, and 4) prevent the dissemination of some kinds of information (e.g., child pornography). In first term in both lectures and seminars, we looked specifically at these 4 areas. Now is an opportunity to explore in more depth one of these areas or to pick another public policy issue.

When discussing public policy, we need not limit ourselves just to considering the kinds of laws passed. It is possible to extend Feather’s perspective since, when it comes to matters relating to computer networks and information, governments in Canada and elsewhere (primarily at the federal level) do more than enact legislation; they establish commissions ( e.g., privacy commissions, the CRTC), fund projects (e.g., Schoolnet), provide tax incentives (e.g., CANARIE), and work behind the scenes with large supra-national organizations (such as the World Bank) – all of this government intervention in various aspects of networked computers impacts on our lives as Canadian citizens. Even activities undertaken by foreign governments, such as the United States or China, can impact on our lives as Canadian citizens.

This project enables you to take one area—say copyright and networks—and look at it in light of how the Canadian government (or possibly the provincial governments, such as Ontario, or another foreign government) is involved. You need to point out laws (if they exist) or policy statements published the government in question.

You need to look at how they are implemented (or plan to be implemented), and search for rationalizations provided by the government and others for their course of action(s). Once you have researched what has been said and done, you need to decide—from your perspective—what are the strengths and weaknesses of their approach. After an objective look at the whole area, you will write you own views on the matter:

“Is the government in question pursuing the right course of action?

“Are their actions effective? Should it be doing more (or less)?

Another way to think about this assignment is to try to answer the relevant Journalism questions: “Who,” “What,” “When,” “Where,” “Why”, and then our own Social-Science-oriented analysis question: “So what?”

TOPICS: Suggested range of public policy issues

Please note:
If you have another PUBLIC POLICY AREA not mentioned below that you would like to research, check with your tutorial leader FIRST; unless you receive permission to go ahead, your paper will not be accepted. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS!

Sites listed in individual topics are there to help you get started—you need to do more research to find more resources: Students should consult the government’s own overview documents first. The Canadian government’s main page is http://canada.gc.ca Another useful site is Industry Canada’s main web site: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/

Specific topics (which will need to be further focused)

1. Canadian Government supported networks: from CA*net to CANARIE (www.canarie.ca)

2.The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission’s role in controlling the Internet.

3. The Canadian government’s approach to copyright.

4. The Canadian government’s positions on electronic business policies. See for example,
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_x/engdoc/using_ecom.html?guides=e_com

5. Actions taken by Federal government regarding “education” and networked computers : For example, The Community Access Program (CAP)
http://cap.ic.gc.ca or Schoolnet:
http://www.schoolnet.ca/home/e/

6. The Canadian government’s attempt to set up “Common Look and Feel” standards for all government of Canada web sites; presumably to make public access easier. See
http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/pur_e.asp

7. Privacy issues – see the Canadian government’s Privacy Commissioner’s web site or the Ontario government’s Privacy web site (www.ipc.on.ca) . One area of privacy highlighted since Sept. 11, 2002 is the area of monitoring electronic communications. See www.canada.justice.gc.ca/en/cons/la_al

8. Canadian laws and the ban on possession of child pornography

Should you wish to look into another country’s public policy issues related to networked
Computers, YOU MUST CONSULT with your tutorial assistant and show that you have a good handle on both the SPECIFIC topic and know where you’ll find resources.

Good luck with this assignment!