John Palfrey
Encyclopedia
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
, vice dean for library and information resources, and the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. He led a reorganization of the Harvard Law School Library in 2009. On November 14, 2011 Palfrey was named the fifteenth head of school of Phillips Academy Andover, effective July 1, 2012.
He is a principal investigator on the Open Net Initiative, a collaboration between Harvard and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
that studies the Internet filtering of countries such as China, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, among many others. He is co-founder and serves on the board of directors of StopBadware
Stopbadware
StopBadware is a consumer-oriented nonprofit organization aimed at fighting malicious software, or "badware". It is the successor to StopBadware.org, a project started in 2006 at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It spun off to become a standalone organization, and...
.
He is co-author or editor of several books. They include Access Denied (MIT Press, 2008), Access Controlled (MIT Press, 2010), and Born Digital
Born Digital
Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives is a book by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser exploring the consequences of the wide availability of internet connectivity to the first generation of people born to it, who Palfrey and Gasser refer to as "digital natives"...
(Basic Books, 2008).
Education
He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
(1990), Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
(A.B. 1994), Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
(M.Phil. 1997) as a Rotary Scholar, and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
(J.D. 2001).
Family
His parents, also professors, are the co-masters of Adams HouseAdams House (Harvard University)
Adams House is one of the twelve undergraduate houses at Harvard University, located between Harvard Square and the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Named to commemorate the Adams family, including John Adams, the second president of the United States and John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. He is a great-great-grandson of United States President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. His family has many connections to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, including through his ancestor, John G. Palfrey
John G. Palfrey
John Gorham Palfrey was an American clergyman and historian who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. A Unitarian minister, he played a leading role in the early history of Harvard Divinity School, and he later became involved in politics as a State Representative and U.S...
, the first dean of the Harvard Divinity School and prominent historian of the 19th century.
Career
Palfrey is an authority in the way that people use technology, relate to information, and engage in politics. In 2008, he served as the chair of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a national effort in the United States to protect the safety of children online, which produced a controversial final report. He has testified before the United States Congress on issues relating to child safety in a digital era. His co-authored book on youth and their use of technology, Born Digital, has been called "a landmark sociological study of today's early adults." Born Digital was also reviewed in Science and the Washington Post. Library Journal named Born DigitalBorn Digital
Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives is a book by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser exploring the consequences of the wide availability of internet connectivity to the first generation of people born to it, who Palfrey and Gasser refer to as "digital natives"...
one of its top Science and Technology books for 2008, the only computer science book named to the prestigious list. His book has also been criticized for the use of the controversial term digital native
Digital native
A digital native is a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technology, and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts...
.
Palfrey served as a Visiting Professor of Law and Information at the University of St. Gallen
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
, Switzerland, in 2007–08.
In February 2008, he started the DRAFT LESSIG movement to encourage law professor Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence "Larry" Lessig is an American academic and political activist. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark, and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications, and he has called for state-based activism to promote substantive...
to run for the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
.
Palfrey was one of the lawyers, along with Prof. William W. Fisher
William W. Fisher
William "Terry" W. Fisher III is the WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Harvard Law School and faculty director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society...
and the law firm Jones Day, on the pro bono team that defended the artist Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...
in his lawsuit with the Associated Press relating to the iconic "Hope" poster depicting then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in his 2008 presidential campaign.
Palfrey's work on the effect of Internet usage on democratic practice was cited as influential to the dissidents in Iran responsible for the Green Revolution. These references resulted in his being named, along with his colleague Ethan Zuckerman
Ethan Zuckerman
Ethan Zuckerman is the director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, officially starting in September 2011.Zuckerman was one of the first staff members of Tripod.com, one of the first successful "dot com" enterprises, and later founder of Geekcorps and Global Voices Online...
, as "conspirator" in the trials that took place in Iran in 2009 and 2010.
On November 14, 2011 Palfrey was named the fifteenth head of school of Phillips Academy Andover.
See also
- Digital nativeDigital nativeA digital native is a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technology, and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts...
- Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- OpenNet InitiativeOpenNet InitiativeThe OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
- StopBadware.org
- Digital Public Library of AmericaDigital Public Library of AmericaThe Digital Public Library of America is a project aimed at bringing about a large-scale digital public library open to all. It was launched by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society in 2010, with major support from the Alfred P...