Professor Jonathan Zittrain

Profile

Jonathan is an internationally known cyberlaw scholar. On completing a first degree from Yale University in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, he went on to gain a JD from Harvard Law School and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

His recent research includes the study of Internet filtering by national governments, the role of intermediaries as points of control in Internet architecture, and the taxation of Internet commerce. He is the founder of the H2O Project, which produces simple, unobtrusive but novel tools for use in classrooms, and is co-founder of the Chilling Effects website, where Google and others report requests that information be censored.

He co-founded the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, and coordinates a significant research and teaching relationship between the Berkman Centre and the OII as the Berkman Visiting Professor at Harvard.

Jonathan is a Professorial Fellow of Keble College, which has developed a particular interest in computer science and public policy.

Research interests

Internet filtering by national governments; role of intermediaries as points of control in Internet architecture; taxation of Internet commerce; digital property, privacy, and speech; creative, useful, and unobtrusive ways to deploy technology in the classroom

Positions held at the OII

• Research Associate, October 2008 - September 2011
• Director of Graduate Studies, September 2005 - September 2008
• Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation, September 2005 - September 2008

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Research

Current projects

• Internet governance

  October 2004 -

  A programme of seminars, forums and conferences informing our research on Internet governance.

Past projects

• Networks for Web Science

  October 2007 - April 2009

  Establishing networks of researchers from different technical and social science research disciplines to begin to develop a Web Science research agenda through the exchange of PhD students and collaborative workshops.

• OpenNet Initiative: state-sponsored filtering of the Internet

  January 2006 - September 2008

  The Open Net Initiative aims to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices, uncovering the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences of these practices, and helping to inform better public policy and advocacy work.

• StopBadWare.org

  January 2006 - January 2010

  A leading independent authority on trends in badware and its distribution, and a focal point for the development of collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware. The main focus is on research and public education.

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Publications

• Articles
• Books
• OII working papers
• Reports
• Working papers

Articles

• Zittrain, J. (2006) The Generative Internet. Harvard Law Review 119: 1974-2040.
• Zittrain, J. (2006) A History of Online Gatekeeping. Harvard Journal of Law and Technology 19 (2).
• Zittrain, J. (2004) Normative principles for the evaluation of free and proprietary software. University of Chicago Law Review 71 (1).
• Zittrain, J. (2003) Internet Points of Control. Boston College Law Review 44 (2) 653-688.
• Zittrain, J. (2003) The Copyright Cage. Legal Affairs, July/August 2003.

Books

• Zittrain, J. (2008) The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It. Yale University Press and Penguin UK.
• Deibert, R.J., Palfrey, J.G., Rohozinski, R. and Zittrain, J. (2008) Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

OII working papers

• Zittrain, J.L. and Palfrey, J.G. (2007) Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 14, University of Oxford.

Reports

• Fisher, W., Palfrey, J. and Zittrain, J. (2005) Amicus Brief for Grokster v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. 1 March 2005.
• Zittrain, J. (2004) China and Internet Filters. Neiman Reports (Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University), Summer 2004, pp. 105-107.

Working papers

• Zittrain, J.L. and Palfrey, J.G. (2007) Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Oxford Internet Institute Research Report No. 14, University of Oxford.

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Webcasts

• The Future of the Internet: Private Sheriffs in Cyberspace

  Recorded on: 19 May 2009 Duration: 00:00:00

  Jonathan Zittrain discusses the ways in which online life will be regulated largely by people and institutions bearing no badges or government affiliation. Do private sheriffs help avoid cumbersome and ill-considered government intervention?

• Jonathan Zittrain: Oxford Book Launch

  Recorded on: 7 May 2008 Duration: 00:56:45

  Jonathan Zittrain discusses the future of the Internet. The Internet's current trajectory is one of lost opportunity: its salvation, he argues, lies in the goodwill of its millions of users.

• London Book Launch: The Future of the Internet

  Recorded on: 24 April 2008 Duration: 00:33:24

  Jonathan Zittrain discusses the future of the Internet. The Internet's current trajectory is one of lost opportunity: its salvation, he argues, lies in the goodwill of its millions of users.

• Domain Name System: History and Future, Part 7

  Recorded on: 4 February 2008 Duration: 00:20:36

  Jonathan Zittrain on the history and future of the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). This event commemorated Jon Postel by looking back at the 25 year history of the DNS, the 10 years of its management under ICANN, and a vision of what the future holds.

• Domain Name System: History and Future, Part 1

  Recorded on: 8 January 2008 Duration: 00:11:24

  Introduction to the history and future of the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). This event commemorated Jon Postel by looking back at the 25 year history of the DNS, the 10 years of its management under ICANN, and a vision of what the future holds.

• Domain Name System: History and Future, Part 8

  Recorded on: 8 January 2008 Duration: 00:45:44

  Closing notes on the history and future of the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). This event commemorated Jon Postel by looking back at the 25 year history of the DNS, the 10 years of its management under ICANN, and a vision of what the future holds.

• Internet Filtering: Conference Discussion

  Recorded on: 18 May 2007 Duration: 01:11:35

  Attendees take part in an open discussion, facilitated by Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain. The session includes thoughts on the product of the OpenNet Initiative's study and Q&A with the principle investigators.

• Oxford Union Debate: Internet and Democratisation, Part 7

  Recorded on: 18 May 2007 Duration: 00:14:22

  Jonathan Zittrain speaks. Oxford Union Debate: 'This House believes that the Internet is the greatest force for democratisation in the World'

• Internet Filtering: Conference Presentations

  Recorded on: 7 May 2007 Duration: 01:50:42

  Jonathan Zittrain introduces the project and Principal Investigator Ron Diebert, Citizen Lab's Nart Villenuve, and ONI Research Director Rob Faris present their findings on the 41 countries studied and the methods used to achieve those findings.

• The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It

  Recorded on: 25 April 2006 Duration: 00:59:34

  What lies around the corner for the Internet .. and how do we avoid it? How can we study and affect the future of the Internet using the distributed power of the network itself? Prof Jonathan Zittrain's inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford.

• CyberSafety Conference Keynote: The Secure Future of the Internet and How to Stop It

  Recorded on: 9 September 2005 Duration: 00:37:09

  Keynote by Jonathan Zittrain at the 2005 Cybersafety Conference, focusing on the complex web of issues, assumptions and trade-offs involved in improving online safety and security at a personal, national and international level.

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News

• New book from Professor Jonathan Zittrain: 'The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It'

  10 April 2008 Oxford Internet Institute

  This extraordinary book from Oxford Professor Jonathan Zittrain explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity - and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success.

• An 'open' Internet without gatekeepers

  26 March 2006 University of Oxford

  In his inaugural lecture, Professor Jonathan Zittrain addresses how to keep the Internet free of gatekeepers and yet guard against the badware or bad code, like viruses and spyware, that disrupts our lives and invades our privacy

• Jonathan Zittrain elected to Professorship of Internet Governance and Regulation

  16 April 2005 Oxford Internet Institute

  Internationally known cyberlaw scholar Jonathan Zittrain becomes the first holder of the Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute.

• First holder of Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation appointed

  30 March 2005 University of Oxford

  Internationally-known cyberlaw scholar Jonathan Zittrain will become the first holder of the Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) this autumn

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