The Information Society Project at Yale Law School is an intellectual center addressing the implications of the Internet and new information technologies for law and society, guided by the values of democracy, development, and civil liberties.
The ISP has grown considerably since its founding by Yale Law Professor Jack Balkin in 1997. The ISP celebrated its 15th year in 2012. It now hosts a number of initiatives, including the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression, the Knight Law and Media Program, and the Thomson Reuters Initiative on Law and Technology. The center is housed at the fourth floor of 40 Ashmun Street in New Haven, where fellows from around the globe come to pursue research and produce significant scholarship.
Alumni of the ISP have gone on to become scholars, activists, and prominent policymakers. Members of the ISP produce scholarship, teach, engage in activism, and develop and spread ideas addressing a number of research areas. Over the years, fellows at the ISP have produced important work towards the following goals:
- Developing legal rules, policy frameworks, and technical architectures to promote civil liberties online, including the preservation of privacy, freedom of speech, and individual liberty;
- Addressing the complex legal, social, ethical, and policy impacts of the genomic revolution;
- Promoting media freedom and informational access;
- Encouraging intellectual property reform and innovation;
- Protecting the right to health and the right to health-related knowledge, including as they relate to reproductive rights;
- Providing teachers and students with better access to digital education;
- Protecting and expanding access to knowledge.
For a longer view of the ISP’s history, please visit our event archives and publications.