Open Software for OpenLaw

Traditional legal argument is developed in closed meetings, with closed software. Openlaw is a Berkman Center project to bring a different, open process to legal argument in the public interest, inspired by the Free Software and open source development models. Openlaw invites interested people to join in online fora to contribute to the brainstorming, drafting, and refining of arguments. We aim to engage a broader community in legal debate, hoping that what we lose in secrecy, we regain in depth of sources and breadth of argument.

Openlaw takes not only inspiration but also tools from the open software realm. We've used mailing lists, web archives, wikis, bulletin boards, along with specially developed tools such as annotation, and new combinations of existing software. As we work through the substantive issues, we have tried to develop a sort of Sourceforge for others who might want to do the same. Using these methods, Openlaw has developed outlines, informational websites, and amicus ("friend of the court") briefs.

This session will review some of Openlaw's cases (the challenge to copyright term extension, DeCSS) and offshoots (Chilling Effects); explore the software that we have used to coordinate the online discussion and the human side to organizing the project; and invite discussion of further tools and opportunities for the project.

Wendy Seltzer recently joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a staff attorney. Prior to joining EFF, Wendy taught Internet Law as an Adjunct Professor at St. John's University School of Law and was an intellectual property and technology associate with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel in New York. She is a 1999 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1996 graduate of Harvard College.

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Slides (openoffice)