Order of Debates

• 1. Digital Divide: The public should subsidize computer and/or Internet access for underserved areas and communities.
  • Supporting: (Abousleman, Brandi, Powell, Teshonne), (Shih, Grace, Westcott, Gregory)
  • Dissenting: (Holoman, Andrew), (Peral, Javier, Mendez, Louis)

• 2. Digital IP: Software should not be patentable.
  • Supporting: (Nuttle, Alexander, Garavito, Alan)
  • Dissenting: (Boston, Emma, Jones, Kathryn) (Williams, Alfred, Ezzard, Rodney)

• 3. Digital Rights Management : Users can and should circumvent digital rights management systems if the use is one typically granted under fair use.
  • Supporting: (Johnson, Jenaye, Northington, Kendra), (Weinstein, Eric)
  • Dissenting: (Overton, Eric, Kwon, Roy)

• 4. Network Neutrality: The Internet should be end-to-end neutral.
  • Supporting: (Zhou, Angela, Chen, Lydia), (Salloum, Alexander, Talley, David)
  • Dissenting: (Leonard, James), (Jahan, Calen, Byrd, Sonny)

• 6. E-voting: Direct recording electronic (DRE) voting terminals as currently used are better than current hand ballot alternatives.
  • Supporting: (Rotberg, Emily, May, Jori), (Mize, Chelsea, Giegerich, Matthew), (Bell, Sheldon, Gainey, Catron)
  • Dissenting: (Pope, Preston, White, Zachary), (Shrivastava, Ankit, Alexander, Max)

• 7. Privacy : The benefits of biometric technology outweigh the risks to civil liberties.
  • Supporting: (Bruno, Peter, Sundaram, Supriya), (Layne, Jared, Gong, Lucy)
  • Dissenting: (Ratcliffe, Colin, Ditzler, Jeffrey), (Jackson, Frank)

• 10. ISP Policy: A university should monitor university networks and connected computers for improper activity such as copyright infringement.
  • Supporting: (Birkenbach, Kathryn, Bahman, Rachel), (Sanders, Christopher)
  • Dissenting: (Kim, Gene, Edwards II, Thaddeus), (Certner, Daniel, Hampton, Kathryn)

Position Statment

1. Your names
2. Your position (i.e. supporting or dissenting)
3. At least one argument for your position. Be sure to define any terms and give related references.

Debate Format

• 5 minutes: Affirmative Constructive Arguments: The for side defines their interpretation of the debate proposition and provides support for their position.

• 1 minutes: Time for negative side to review
• 4 minutes: Negative replies to Affirmative amd Negative Constructive Arguments: The against side gives their rebuttal to the for side and gives the argument for why . The negative side should make sure that their arguments directly address the arguments raised by the affirmative side. At that point, they can present new arguments as well.
• 1 question from Affirmative group
• 30 second response from Negative
• Judge vote

Note that each side will have no more than 5 minutes, so make sure to keep your presentations within that limit. Mail any slides, handouts, or other materials to Prof. Forbes at least 12 hours in advance of your debate.