The Generative Internet
2006 · paper · Law
Argues that the Internet's openness depends on both the network and the personal computers attached to it. Security threats may push consumers toward closed devices, and the article explores ways to address security while keeping the generative qualities of open computing.
Checked: PDF from nissenbaum.tech.cornell.edu, fetched 5 Oct 2026. Page numbers are those of that PDF.
1 finding
Wording Picker's proposed duty is quoted as "a duty of ongoing design to reduce noninfringing use", which contradicts the paragraph's own account of the argument (making products that could facilitate infringement 'less harmful').
- p. 22 Part IV.B, paragraph on Professor Picker
"a duty of ongoing design to reduce noninfringing use."
- p. 22 Part IV.B, paragraph on Professor Picker (text at n190)
a duty of ongoing design to reduce noninfringing use.
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: The page image confirms the wording 'noninfringing'. The surrounding text describes a duty aimed at infringement, so 'reduce noninfringing use' reverses the meaning. The cited source is not in the files, so the authors need to check whether this is a transcription slip or the source's own wording (which would call for [sic]).
Second check: another model agreed
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6 minor (typos and the like; most checked by the judge only)
Wording Summary says "the Internet to its tens of millions of attached personal computers", while p.17 reports "over 353 million" hosts and "almost 900 million" PCs in use in 2005.
- p. 1 Summary/Highlight (abstract)
the Internet to its tens of millions of attached personal computers
- p. 17 Part III.B.2
In 2005, the count was over 353 million, n141 and worldwide PCs in use were estimated at almost 900 million.
Judge's note: Checked the crop of the p.1 summary and the p.17 text. The summary's figure is an order of magnitude below the article's own host and PC counts. The article uses 'tens of millions' loosely in several places (pp. 10 and 25), so this is a lower-bound phrasing rather than a hard error. It is a wording inconsistency, not a wrong data point.
Second check: another model agreed
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Wording Text says the network "has grown to reach hundreds of millions of people", but the supporting n5 estimates "over one billion people used the Internet in 2005".
- p. 2 Part I, first paragraph
the network has grown to reach hundreds of millions of people
- p. 32 Footnote n5
estimating that over one billion people used the Internet in 2005
- p. 2 Introduction, first paragraph
the network has grown to reach hundreds of millions of people in the developed and developing worlds
Judge's note: Both quotes are present on pp. 2 and 32. The text understates the figure given in its own supporting footnote. 'Hundreds of millions' may be loose rhetoric, so this is minor.
Second check: another model agreed
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Wording The third-strand trusted-systems concerns are dated to "the late 1990s" on pp. 4 and 11, but to "the mid-1990s" on p.12 ("the mid-1990s' fears of digital lockdown") and p.23 ("first raised concerns ... in the mid-1990s").
- p. 4 Part I
Professors Julie Cohen and Pamela Samuelson predicted in the late 1990s
- p. 11 Part III.A
In the late 1990s, Professor Lessig and others argued that the debate was too narrow, pioneering yet a third strand
- p. 12 Part III.A
Thus, the mid-1990s' fears of digital lockdown through trusted systems
- p. 23 Part IV.B
who first raised concerns about an era of trusted systems in the mid-1990s
Judge's note: Viewed the p.12 and p.23 crops. The same scholars and concerns are dated inconsistently within the article. Earlier mid-1990s trusted-systems writing exists, so either date could be defended, but the article does not reconcile the two.
Second check: another model agreed
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Wording Text says "including Windows XP, the feature is off, but the computer prompts the user to turn it on", while the supporting n176 says "In Windows XP Service Pack 2, this feature is automatically turned on."
- p. 21 Part IV.A.2, automatic updating paragraph
including Windows XP, the feature is off, but the computer prompts the user to turn it on.
- p. 53 Footnote n176
In Windows XP Service Pack 2, this feature is automatically turned on.
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Viewed the p.21 text and n176. The text and its supporting note give opposite default states for Windows XP, and neither says that different service packs are meant. The authors should clarify which version each statement describes.
Second check: another model agreed
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Typo "The alternative paths that this Article advocates try to maintain ... It requires charting an intermediate course": a plural subject is picked up by the singular 'It'.
- p. 31 Part VI, Conclusion, third paragraph
The alternative paths that this Article advocates try to maintain
Judge's note: Viewed the p.31 crop. There is a number-agreement mismatch between 'paths' and 'It'. 'It' could be read as referring to the overall endeavour, so this is cosmetic.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo n132 gives "(last visited Apr. 9, 2005)" for the Wikipedia Hacker Ethic entry, whereas every other web citation gives "last visited Apr. 9, 2006".
- p. 48 Footnote n132
(last visited Apr. 9, 2005)
- p. 48
visited Apr. 9, 2005); see also Pekka Himanen
Judge's note: The page image confirms '2005'. Other footnotes, e.g. n26, n50 and n138, use Apr. 9, 2006, and the article cites 2006 material, so the year is almost certainly a typo.
Second check: none (judge only)