Menu of paper/debate topics
Pick your three top choices and email them to me. If you have a preference on which side of the question you take for the paper vs the debate, mention that too.- Robots: We should(/n't) ban by treaty the use of autonomous AI/robots in domestic and international military conflicts.
- Internet access: We should(/n't) consider access to the Internet a positive right, and the government should(/n't) provide it free or cheap to every household.
- Abandonware: Books, music, and games that are out of print, and whose owners have gone out of business, should(/n't) be considered "abandonware" and released into the public domain.
- School laptops: School districts that distribute laptops to their students should(/n't) be banned from remotely accessing and viewing images from the laptops' webcams.
- OpenDocument: The Commonwealth of Virginia should(/n't) adopt a policy requiring all state documents to be in OpenDocument format. (See also: "proprietary formats")
- Social media: Social media sites should(/n't) delete controversial or sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic posts, and/or ban users that post them.
- Red-light cameras: Automated photo-based law enforcement tools, such as red-light cameras, should(/n't) be banned.
- Software patents: Congress and the USPTO should(/n't) ban or radically restrict the issuing of software patents. (See also: "non-practicing entities", "patent troll", "prior art", "novelty")
- Right to repair: The government should(/n't) ban companies from using copyright law to prevent people from repairing or hiring someone to repair electronic machinery that they own.
- Body cams: On-duty police officers should(/n't) be required to wear body cameras turned on at all times, with the recordings saved for at least a few weeks after each shift.
- Voter databases: Voter registration databases should(/n't) be linked to each other and to state ID databases, automatically removing people from the voter rolls.
- Net neutrality: The US government should(/n't) mandate that Internet service providers handle all transmitted data in the same way without privileging certain platforms over others or charging extra for certain kinds of content.
- Injected ads: The US government should(/n't) ban Internet service providers from editing transmitted content to inject advertisements into the users' data downloads and web pages.
- Doxxing: The US government should(/n't) pass a law making doxxing someone a federal crime.
- Online voting: The Commonwealth of Virginia should(/n't) pass legislation and build a web interface enabling people to vote for town, state, and federal offices online.