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Call for Papers<br>
Third Annual GigaNet Symposium<br>
2 December 2008 - Hyderabad, India<br>
Hyderabad International Conference Center (HICC)<br><br>
<br>
The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) is a<br>
scholarly community that promotes the development of Internet<br>
governance as a recognized, interdisciplinary field of study and<br>
facilitates informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters<br>
between scholars and governments, international organizations, the<br>
private sector, and civil society.<br>
<br>
Each year, GigaNet organizes a one-day research symposium in<br>
conjunction with the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF)<br>
and in the same premises. After the first two editions in Athens,<br>
Greece (October 2006) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (November 2007), the<br>
third GigaNet Annual Symposium will be held on December 2, 2008, in<br>
Hyderabad, India, the day before the 3rd IGF meeting. Attendance at<br>
the Symposium will be open to all and free of charge. The Symposium<br>
will be at the same location as the IGF and registration with the UN<br>
as an IGF participant may be necessary to gain entry to the building.<br>
<br>
This is a call for papers from scholars interested in presenting an<br>
original research paper at the conference.<br>
<br>
Submission topics<br>
In addition to papers on methodological aspects of Internet<br>
governance-related studies, this year's Symposium particularly<br>
encourages submissions on the following themes, which are described<br>
in more detail below:<br>
1. Comparing Internet Governance to other Global Governance Domains<br>
2. Networked Governance Theories and the Institutionalization of<br>
Internet Governance<br>
3. The Role of NGOs, Social Movements and Civil Society in Internet<br>
Governance<br>
4. Year 3 of the UN Internet Governance Forum: Assessing its<br>
Structure, Process and Impact<br>
5. Law and Jurisdictions in Internet Governance<br>
6. Copyright Protection, Internet Service Providers and Technical<br>
Mechanisms of Control<br>
7. Internationalized Domain Names: Expanding Access or Tower of Babel?<br>
<br>
Submission requirements<br>
Applicants should submit: 1) an abstract of 800-1000 words, in<br>
English, of the proposed paper that describes the main research<br>
question(s), methods employed, and the paper's relevance and value to<br>
the thematic area; and 2) a one page summary curriculum vitae listing<br>
in particular the applicant's current institutional affiliation(s),<br>
advanced degrees, scholarly publications relevant to Internet<br>
governance, and web sites, if available.<br>
<br>
Submission materials should be emailed directly to the chairperson of<br>
the 2008 Program Committee, Dr. Meryem Marzouki, at<br>
<a href="mailto:Meryem.Marzouki@lip6.fr" target="_blank">Meryem.Marzouki@lip6.fr</a> by no later than July 15, 2008, midnight GMT.<br>
<br>
Members of the 2008 program committee will review submissions<br>
according to the same criteria. In order to ensure fairness of the<br>
evaluation process, submissions that do not conform to the requested<br>
format will not be considered.<br>
<br>
The Program Committee will notify applicants of its decisions via<br>
email by September 15, 2008.<br>
<br>
A full paper upon which oral or poster presentation will be based<br>
must be delivered to the same address by October 10, 2008, midnight<br>
GMT in order for the author(s) to be included in the program.<br>
<br>
While GigaNet asserts no copyright to authors' work, it is expected<br>
that the version of the paper presented orally or as poster will be<br>
made available for posting on the GigaNet website.<br>
<br>
Travel scholarships for a few outstanding accepted papers may be<br>
available for scholars who would otherwise be unable to attend.<br>
Applicants who are accepted will be informed of these opportunities<br>
after September 15.<br>
<br>
2008 GigaNet Symposium Program Committee:<br>
- Ana Abreu, Labeurb/Unicamp and Paulista University, Campinas (SP),<br>
Brazil<br>
- Slavka Antonova, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand<br>
- Meryem Marzouki, LIP6/PolyTIC-CNRS Laboratory, Paris, France (Chair)<br>
- John Mathiason, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs,<br>
Syracuse University, Syracuse (NY), USA<br>
- Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Information Studies,<br>
Syracuse (NY), USA<br>
- Max Senges, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain<br>
- Rolf H. Weber, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland<br>
<br>
Important dates:<br>
- 15 July 2008: abstract submission deadline (to be sent to:<br>
<a href="mailto:Meryem.Marzouki@lip6.fr" target="_blank">Meryem.Marzouki@lip6.fr</a>)<br>
- 15 September 2008: notification to applicants<br>
- 10 October 2008: full papers due<br>
- 15 October 2008: 2008 GigaNet symposium program finalized<br>
- 2 December 2008: 2008 GigaNet symposium, HICC, Hyderabad, India<br>
<br>
Topics Description<br>
<br>
1. Comparing Internet Governance to other Global Governance Domains<br>
The concept of global governance has flourished in a number of<br>
fields: trade, security, environment, development -- as well as<br>
Internet. However, most general analyses of global governance ignore<br>
global Internet governance. Conversely, very few Internet governance<br>
analyses are conducted through comparative frameworks. Submissions<br>
are invited to help frame Internet governance in a broader, global<br>
governance perspective. What could be learnt from experiences of<br>
global governance in other fields? Are there any general instruments<br>
and methods of global governance, irrespective of the domain area it<br>
addresses? Could some similarities or invariants of a global<br>
governance process be identified?<br>
<br>
2. Networked Governance Theories and the Institutionalization of<br>
Internet Governance<br>
The global policy discourse on Internet governance involves more<br>
diverse actors and newly created institutions. There is a need to<br>
explore the dynamics of this changing institutionalization process<br>
through theoretical and empirical analysis. Recent work explores<br>
network forms of organization in political and governance contexts,<br>
at national and international levels, most notably with the concept<br>
of "transgovernmental networks" to solve sector-specific problems. We<br>
call for papers that apply, test and criticize ideas of "networked<br>
governance" in the context of global Internet governance. We<br>
encourage submissions that analyze collaborative policy-making in<br>
related institutions and interactions between them. We are especially<br>
interested in papers that critically analyze these forms of<br>
governance in terms of fairness and accountability and their<br>
relationship to democratic principles. Can presently excluded or<br>
minority communities enhance their participation? Beyond the expert<br>
discourse and the interplay amongst dedicated stakeholders, can<br>
networked governance represent people, rather than just established<br>
interests and agencies? What are the available tools and practices to<br>
facilitate their participation and deliberation, in terms of<br>
discourse, collaboration and decision-making?<br>
<br>
3. Role of NGOs, Social Movements and Civil Society in Internet<br>
Governance<br>
Important but subtle transformations have occurred in the role and<br>
participation of non-governmental and non-business actors in the 6<br>
years since the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). WSIS<br>
witnessed a somewhat usual situation, where organized social actors<br>
participated from inside the process through structured non-<br>
governmental organizations, and social movements exercised some more<br>
radical pressure from the outside. Since the creation of the UN<br>
Internet Governance Forum (IGF), this mode of participation has<br>
turned into a "consensus-based cooperation", where civil society<br>
actors are supposed to contribute on equal footing with governments<br>
and business actors, in most cases in their individual capacity and<br>
rather disconnected from social movements. We seek papers that<br>
analyze the evolution of involved social actors and their<br>
structuring, especially with regards to the historical evolution of<br>
the concept of civil society, and to explore in which ways and to<br>
what extent these transformations may be related to the move from<br>
government to governance.<br>
<br>
4. Year 3 of the UN Internet Governance Forum: Assessing its<br>
Structure, Process and Impact<br>
The WSIS created and mandated the IGF to address critical, value-<br>
adding global Internet governance functions that cannot be entirely<br>
performed by any existing institution. This includes: highlighting<br>
emerging issues, assessing the embodiment of WSIS principles, and<br>
strengthening the participation of stakeholders in Internet<br>
governance mechanisms. Furthermore, the IGF was defined as<br>
"multilateral, multi-stakeholder, democratic and transparent" body;<br>
it has been structured through a Secretariat, a multi-stakeholder<br>
advisory group (MAG), and a special advisory group to the MAG's<br>
chair; and for 3 years, it has been operating as an open discursive<br>
space, prepared through open consultation sessions. Submissions are<br>
invited to explore whether the IGF has fulfilled its mandate at this<br>
step, which difficulties can be identified and how they could be<br>
solved. Has the IGF structure, management and advisory mechanisms<br>
proven to be adequate and compliant with the WSIS Tunis Agenda<br>
requirements? What strengths could be reinforced and weaknesses<br>
overcome?<br>
<br>
5. Law and Jurisdictions in Internet Governance<br>
The Internet must now be considered a major factor when elaborating<br>
regulatory principles to deal with the circulation of content and<br>
data and with the protection of the general communications<br>
infrastructure. This is not an easy task because of its implications<br>
on the respect for universal human rights, fundamental freedoms and<br>
the rule of law, where States differ widely on their implementation<br>
of these international standards, even among coherent regional<br>
entities. The task becomes even more complex due to conflicts of<br>
competences among overlapping jurisdictions. We seek papers that<br>
identify and explore conflicts among national laws and attempts to<br>
harmonize them. We also seek papers that explore the relevance to the<br>
global Internet of public and private international law currently in<br>
force or being considered in ongoing international negotiations.<br>
Submissions analyzing the role and positions of various players in<br>
these processes are also encouraged.<br>
<br>
6. Copyright Protection, Internet Service Providers and Technical<br>
Mechanisms of Control<br>
We encourage papers that examine attempts to impose copyright<br>
protection on the Internet through the intermediary of Internet<br>
service providers. This theme bridges the topics of network<br>
neutrality and intellectual property, inspired by recent incidents,<br>
such as a Belgian ISP's order by a court to use deep packet<br>
inspection to catch copyright infringement in transit, and Comcast's<br>
notorious interference with BitTorrent, which also was probably<br>
stimulated in part by copyright protection concerns. Papers can<br>
explore the feasibility and "state of the art" of packet inspection<br>
and other relevant techniques, analyze copyright industry and ISP<br>
industry interactions from a political economy standpoint, or examine<br>
appropriate policy responses to new and powerful packet inspection<br>
techniques.<br>
<br>
7. Internationalized Domain Names: Expanding Access or Tower of Babel?<br>
We encourage papers on the economic, cultural and compatibility<br>
issues raised by the migration to a new standard for Internet domain<br>
names that allows them to reflect non-Roman scripts such as Chinese<br>
or Cyrillic. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) have a double-<br>
edged effect: they widen access for non-English or ASCII readers by<br>
making domain names easier to use, but they also introduce<br>
compatibility problems among people communicating across language<br>
boundaries, as one party may not know how to read or input the<br>
address of the other party. There are also interesting questions of<br>
competition policy, as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names<br>
and Numbers (ICANN) must decide whether to give new generic top level<br>
domains (TLDs) in IDN scripts to incumbents operating ASCII TLDs with<br>
similar meanings, or to new competitors. Issues of consumer confusion<br>
and cross-linguistic disputes can also arise.<br>
<br>
<br>-------------------------------------------------<a href="http://www-rp.lip6.fr/wws/info/giganet-pc2008" target="_blank"></a><br></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-------------------------------------------------<br>
"I meant to tell mankind . . . to attempt a quixotic adventure with no resources<br>beyond their native strength and sagacity. I had done it myself and found not<br>only that the pearl of great price was worth far more than I possessed, but that<br>
the very perils and privations of the Quest were themselves my dearest memories.<br>I was certain of this at least: that nothing in the world except this was worth<br>doing."<br>- Aleister Crowley, The Confessions <br>
<br>
-------------------------------------------------<br>Dr. Max Senges<br>Stanford Post-Doc Visiting Scholar<br>UOC Research Associate <br>Freelance Consultant<br><br>98 Loyola Ave., Menlo Park, California 94025<br><br>US-Phone: (001) 650 714 9826<br>
<br><a href="http://www.maxsenges.com" target="_blank">www.maxsenges.com</a><br><a href="http://entrepreneur.jot.com" target="_blank">http://entrepreneur.jot.com</a><br><a href="https://www.openbc.com/hp/Max_Senges/" target="_blank">https://www.openbc.com/hp/Max_Senges/</a><br>
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