[WSIS CS-Plenary] 3rd GigaNet Annual Symposium - Hyderabad, 2 December 2008 - Call for Papers

[Meryem Marzouki]

[Apologies in case of multiple reception.]

Dear colleagues, dear all,

Please find hereafter the Call for Papers for the 3rd GigaNet Annual  
Symposium, that will be held in Hyderabad, India, on 2 December 2008,  
the day prior to the UN Internet Governance Forum.
The GigaNet Annual Symposium is an opportunity to showcase some of  
the best current research on Internet Governance from around the  
world and provides a venue for scholars to discuss and debate these  
crucial issues.
Previous GigaNet Symposia have been held in Athens, Greece, in 2006  
and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007, in conjuction with the annual  
meetings of the UN IGF.
The GigaNet Program Committee encourages all scholars in the field to  
submit proposals on their current Internet Governance related  
research. Deadline for submissions is 15 July 2008.

Please distribute widely. The URL of the Symposium CFP is: http:// 
tinyurl.com/ynsuuf

Best regards,
Meryem Marzouki (2008 GigaNet Program Committee Chair)

--
Meryem Marzouki
LIP6/PolyTIC - CNRS
104 avenue du Président Kennedy - 75016 Paris
http://www-polytic.lip6.fr
::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Third Annual GigaNet Symposium
2 December 2008 - Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad International Conference Center (HICC)
Call for Papers

The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) is a  
scholarly community that promotes the development of Internet  
governance as a recognized, interdisciplinary field of study and  
facilitates informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters  
between scholars and governments, international organizations, the  
private sector, and civil society.

Each year, GigaNet organizes a one-day research symposium in  
conjunction with the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF)  
and in the same premises. After the first two editions in Athens,  
Greece (October 2006) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (November 2007), the  
third GigaNet Annual Symposium will be held on December 2, 2008, in  
Hyderabad, India, the day before the 3rd IGF meeting. Attendance at  
the Symposium will be open to all and free of charge. The Symposium  
will be at the same location as the IGF and registration with the UN  
as an IGF participant may be necessary to gain entry to the building.

This is a call for papers from scholars interested in presenting an  
original research paper at the conference.

Submission topics
In addition to papers on methodological aspects of Internet  
governance-related studies, this year's Symposium particularly  
encourages submissions on the following themes, which are described  
in more detail below:
1. Comparing Internet Governance to other Global Governance Domains
2. Networked Governance Theories and the Institutionalization of  
Internet Governance
3. The Role of NGOs, Social Movements and Civil Society in Internet  
Governance
4. Year 3 of the UN Internet Governance Forum: Assessing its  
Structure, Process and Impact
5. Law and Jurisdictions in Internet Governance
6. Copyright Protection, Internet Service Providers and Technical  
Mechanisms of Control
7. Internationalized Domain Names: Expanding Access or Tower of Babel?

Submission requirements
Applicants should submit: 1) an abstract of 800-1000 words, in  
English, of the proposed paper that describes the main research  
question(s), methods employed, and the paper’s relevance and value to  
the thematic area; and 2) a one page summary curriculum vitae listing  
in particular the applicant’s current institutional affiliation(s),  
advanced degrees, scholarly publications relevant to Internet  
governance, and web sites, if available.

Submission materials should be emailed directly to the chairperson of  
the 2008 Program Committee, Dr. Meryem Marzouki, at  
Meryem.Marzouki at lip6.fr by no later than July 15, 2008, midnight GMT.

Members of the 2008 program committee will review submissions  
according to the same criteria. In order to ensure fairness of the  
evaluation process, submissions that do not conform to the requested  
format will not be considered.

The Program Committee will notify applicants of its decisions via  
email by September 15, 2008.

A full paper upon which oral or poster presentation will be based  
must be delivered to the same address by October 10, 2008, midnight  
GMT in order for the author(s) to be included in the program.

While GigaNet asserts no copyright to authors’ work, it is expected  
that the version of the paper presented orally or as poster will be  
made available for posting on the GigaNet website.

Travel scholarships for a few outstanding accepted papers may be  
available for scholars who would otherwise be unable to attend.  
Applicants who are accepted will be informed of these opportunities  
after September 15.

2008 GigaNet Symposium Program Committee:
- Ana Abreu, Labeurb/Unicamp and Paulista University, Campinas (SP),  
Brazil
- Slavka Antonova, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
- Meryem Marzouki, LIP6/PolyTIC-CNRS Laboratory, Paris, France (Chair)
- John Mathiason, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs,  
Syracuse University, Syracuse (NY), USA
- Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Information Studies,  
Syracuse (NY), USA
- Max Senges, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
- Rolf H. Weber, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Important dates:
- 15 July 2008: abstract submission deadline (to be sent to:  
Meryem.Marzouki at lip6.fr)
- 15 September 2008: notification to applicants
- 10 October 2008: full papers due
- 15 October 2008: 2008 GigaNet symposium program finalized
- 2 December 2008: 2008 GigaNet symposium, HICC, Hyderabad, India

Topics Description

1. Comparing Internet Governance to other Global Governance Domains
The concept of global governance has flourished in a number of  
fields: trade, security, environment, development -- as well as  
Internet. However, most general analyses of global governance ignore  
global Internet governance. Conversely, very few Internet governance  
analyses are conducted through comparative frameworks. Submissions  
are invited to help frame Internet governance in a broader, global  
governance perspective. What could be learnt from experiences of  
global governance in other fields? Are there any general instruments  
and methods of global governance, irrespective of the domain area it  
addresses? Could some similarities or invariants of a global  
governance process be identified?

2. Networked Governance Theories and the Institutionalization of  
Internet Governance
The global policy discourse on Internet governance involves more  
diverse actors and newly created institutions. There is a need to  
explore the dynamics of this changing institutionalization process  
through theoretical and empirical analysis. Recent work explores  
network forms of organization in political and governance contexts,  
at national and international levels, most notably with the concept  
of “transgovernmental networks” to solve sector-specific problems. We  
call for papers that apply, test and criticize ideas of “networked  
governance” in the context of global Internet governance. We  
encourage submissions that analyze collaborative policy-making in  
related institutions and interactions between them. We are especially  
interested in papers that critically analyze these forms of  
governance in terms of fairness and accountability and their  
relationship to democratic principles. Can presently excluded or  
minority communities enhance their participation? Beyond the expert  
discourse and the interplay amongst dedicated stakeholders, can  
networked governance represent people, rather than just established  
interests and agencies? What are the available tools and practices to  
facilitate their participation and deliberation, in terms of  
discourse, collaboration and decision-making?

3. Role of NGOs, Social Movements and Civil Society in Internet  
Governance
Important but subtle transformations have occurred in the role and  
participation of non-governmental and non-business actors in the 6  
years since the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). WSIS  
witnessed a somewhat usual situation, where organized social actors  
participated from inside the process through structured non- 
governmental organizations, and social movements exercised some more  
radical pressure from the outside. Since the creation of the UN  
Internet Governance Forum (IGF), this mode of participation has  
turned into a “consensus-based cooperation”, where civil society  
actors are supposed to contribute on equal footing with governments  
and business actors, in most cases in their individual capacity and  
rather disconnected from social movements. We seek papers that  
analyze the evolution of involved social actors and their  
structuring, especially with regards to the historical evolution of  
the concept of civil society, and to explore in which ways and to  
what extent these transformations may be related to the move from  
government to governance.

4. Year 3 of the UN Internet Governance Forum: Assessing its  
Structure, Process and Impact
The WSIS created and mandated the IGF to address critical, value- 
adding global Internet governance functions that cannot be entirely  
performed by any existing institution. This includes: highlighting  
emerging issues, assessing the embodiment of WSIS principles, and  
strengthening the participation of stakeholders in Internet  
governance mechanisms. Furthermore, the IGF was defined as  
“multilateral, multi-stakeholder, democratic and transparent” body;  
it has been structured through a Secretariat, a multi-stakeholder  
advisory group (MAG), and a special advisory group to the MAG’s  
chair; and for 3 years, it has been operating as an open discursive  
space, prepared through open consultation sessions. Submissions are  
invited to explore whether the IGF has fulfilled its mandate at this  
step, which difficulties can be identified and how they could be  
solved. Has the IGF structure, management and advisory mechanisms  
proven to be adequate and compliant with the WSIS Tunis Agenda  
requirements? What strengths could be reinforced and weaknesses  
overcome?

5. Law and Jurisdictions in Internet Governance
The Internet must now be considered a major factor when elaborating  
regulatory principles to deal with the circulation of content and  
data and with the protection of the general communications  
infrastructure. This is not an easy task because of its implications  
on the respect for universal human rights, fundamental freedoms and  
the rule of law, where States differ widely on their implementation  
of these international standards, even among coherent regional  
entities. The task becomes even more complex due to conflicts of  
competences among overlapping jurisdictions. We seek papers that  
identify and explore conflicts among national laws and attempts to  
harmonize them. We also seek papers that explore the relevance to the  
global Internet of public and private international law currently in  
force or being considered in ongoing international negotiations.  
Submissions analyzing the role and positions of various players in  
these processes are also encouraged.

6. Copyright Protection, Internet Service Providers and Technical  
Mechanisms of Control
We encourage papers that examine attempts to impose copyright  
protection on the Internet through the intermediary of Internet  
service providers. This theme bridges the topics of network  
neutrality and intellectual property, inspired by recent incidents,  
such as a Belgian ISP’s order by a court to use deep packet  
inspection to catch copyright infringement in transit, and Comcast's  
notorious interference with BitTorrent, which also was probably  
stimulated in part by copyright protection concerns. Papers can  
explore the feasibility and “state of the art” of packet inspection  
and other relevant techniques, analyze copyright industry and ISP  
industry interactions from a political economy standpoint, or examine  
appropriate policy responses to new and powerful packet inspection  
techniques.

7. Internationalized Domain Names: Expanding Access or Tower of Babel?
We encourage papers on the economic, cultural and compatibility  
issues raised by the migration to a new standard for Internet domain  
names that allows them to reflect non-Roman scripts such as Chinese  
or Cyrillic. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) have a double- 
edged effect: they widen access for non-English or ASCII readers by  
making domain names easier to use, but they also introduce  
compatibility problems among people communicating across language  
boundaries, as one party may not know how to read or input the  
address of the other party. There are also interesting questions of  
competition policy, as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names  
and Numbers (ICANN) must decide whether to give new generic top level  
domains (TLDs) in IDN scripts to incumbents operating ASCII TLDs with  
similar meanings, or to new competitors. Issues of consumer confusion  
and cross-linguistic disputes can also arise.


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