For the purposes of a police search, is email stored at Google the same as snail mail? That is, do the police require a search warrant? See http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/federal-court-e-mail-entitled-to-fourth-amendment-protection/
Much about the WikiLeaks scandal, and especially some of its technical issues:
- The cybe counter-attacks by supporters of WikiLeaks; see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/08/AR2010120804038.html
- Amazon's decision not to continue to host WikiLeaks, and what it says about the use of cloud computing, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/dec/11/wikileaks-amazon-denial-democracy-lieberman
Net Neutrality. As of the minute I am writing these words, it seems that the Federal Trade Commission has made a decision, but has not yet publicized it. See http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/12/21/fcc.open.internet.secrecy/ for the status as of noon Central Time December 21. (And see Net Neutrality in Wikipedia if you don't know what it is.)
Tracking web users. See the Wall Street Journal's What They Know series for a good non-technical overview. Currently the Federal Trade Commission is also considering instituting a "Do Not Track" list like the "Do not call" list for telemarketing.
The risks of using technology: Medical radiation equipment that was set wrong severely injuring patients at Evanston Hospital in 2010. This is an amazing story, because many regard the Therac-25 radiation machine fiasco as the worst software engineering failure of all time, and here is somerthing somewhat similar happenning over 20 years later.

Early-semester To-Do's for students:

Obtain the books! (See syllabus).
Do reading for Wednesday of first week of class. (See syllabus).
Do the short writing assignment due Wednesday of second week of class (See Homeworks).
Pick partner and presentation/debate topic.