Project three


This project will culminate in a debate about a public policy issue. There are two milestones plus an in-class debate.

Milestone 1

Each group will pick three ranked debate topics from the following list and send their choices to Hal Varian. He will then (try to) assign each group a topic from the set it chose, while also ensuring that each topic has two groups assigned to it to facilitate a debate. (Please note: this may not be possible! In cases of ties, the earlier email takes precedence.)
  1. GSM might be perceived as an example of a triumph of a standardized government driven approach over a chaotic market driven shakeout. The Internet vs. ISO networking standards might be perceived as the opposite. Resolved: the United States Federal government should take a more activist role in setting technology standards.
  2. In the US, and in many states, information compiled by governments is generally made available to users at the cost of reproduction. Examples in include census data, patent data, court decisions, geographic data, etc. In England, the Crown holds a copyright on such data and licenses its use. Resolved: the US model  is superior.
  3. Domain name registration for com, org, and net, is currently managed by Network Solutions International. Describe how this came about and outline the current debate surrounding the Domain Name System. Resolved: the private market will provide a better solution to domain name registration than a not-for-profit regulated firm.
  4. There are two approaches to content regulation to protect children from pornographic materials: labeling and age verification.  Labeling requires content providers (or others) to label the materials and parents, or other responsible parties, to take steps to control access.  Age verification requires content providers to verify age by requiring credit card numbers or digital certificates before allowing access.  Resolved: age verification is the preferred method.
  5. Resolved: Business process patents are a good idea and should be encouraged by both industry and government. (Note: you may propose variations on the current patent office policies)
  6. Resolved: Appropriate levels of computer and network security are best achieved by marketplace, and not government action.
  7. Resolved: Broadband Internet services to the home provided by cable or telecom companies should be required to offer a choice of ISP.

Milestone 2

Each group will  research and discuss both sides of this issue (considering both sides is at the heart of strategic thinking):

Debate

This will be in class during the last three class sessions (see the course calendar, where the exact dates for each group will be posted after the topic assignments are made). The format will be 10 min for each side to present their position, 5 min for each side to give a rebuttal to the other, followed by questions and discussion. The order will be: affirmative side, negative side, negative side rebuttal of affirmative side, affirmative side rebuttal of negative side. Obviously you will want to prepare a rebuttal to expected arguments on the affirmative side, as well as adjust your rebuttal as you hear the affirmative side arguments.

Each debate will consume half a class period (45 minutes). The first debate listed will start promptly at 9:30am in order to give sufficient time for both debates. All students please show up on time to avoid disruption.

Action items following each debate:

Grading

Project groups will be graded based on both white papers (covering background information) and performance in the debate (advocating one side), the latter graded by peer review as well as by the instructors. There will be no designated winner and loser, but rather each side will be graded by the quality of their arguments taking account of the intrinsic strength of their side of the issue.