[Air-L] CFP Global Internet Governance Academic Network Symposium 2008

[Ismael Peña-López]

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Call for Papers
Third Annual GigaNet Symposium
2 December 2008 - Hyderabad, India
Hyderabad International Conference Center (HICC)


The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet
http://tinyurl.com/ynsuuf) 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.


--
Private discussion list of 2008 GigaNet Program Committee. Archived.
List homepage: http://www-rp.lip6.fr/wws/info/giganet-pc2008



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Ismael Peña-López
ICTlogy.net

Public Policies for Development and ICT4D
Faculty of Law and Political Science
Open University of Catalonia