Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons April 18-20, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand http://www.asia-commons.net/
During the last 20 years or so, the level, scope, territorial extent, and role of copyrights and patents have expanded into new sectors. There has been much discussion and debate on the impact of copyrights and patents at a micro level of economic activity while at a macro level, policy dialogue in several international fora, not least of which is WIPO, has been addressing barriers posed by copyrights and patents. Asia Commons: Asian Conference on the Digital Commons invites: - researchers working in the area of copyrights and patents, - promoters of collaborative models, - development practitioners engaged in collaborative content creation and dissemination, and - custodians of public information to go beyond the current dialogue and debate to explore key issues and ideas related to access to knowledge and culture in Asia. Participants are invited to explore key themes and questions related to the Asian Commons: - What is the relationship between infrastructure and copyrights on access to culture and knowledge? - How do software and business process patents affect innovation? - What are the impacts of patents on software innovations in Asia? - What are the emerging Open Business Models for content production in Asia? - Given existing legal, cultural and infrastructural environments both within and outside of Asia, how can we contribute to increasing access to knowledge and culture through an Asia Commons? While we will be inviting a number of speakers who are seen as thought-leaders in the field of Access to Knowledge and Culture, we will also look to innovative approaches to ensure a high degree of interaction among participants in spaces and sessions which are designed to maximize the exchange of experiences and ideas. Conference Fees, Registration, and Scholarships: There are no fees for participation in the conference which is supported through funding made available by the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC's) Pan Asia Program <http://www.idrc.ca/panasia>. If you are interested in participating, please register online at <http://www.asia-commons.net/conf_registration/add> or email <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> to receive a registration form which can be submitted through email. Please register before March 8, 2006. Thanks to the generous support of IDRC's Pan Asia <http://www.idrc.ca/panasia> and UNDP APDIP's IOSN <http://www.iosn.net> there are also a number of scholarships available for participants in need of financial support. Please visit <http://www.asia-commons.net/participate> for more information. Call for Papers: Asia Commons invites paper abstracts of original papers for sharing your work and experiences during the discussions at the conference. Papers should fall within the conference themes: - Access to Knowledge and Culture in Asia - Models for Collaborative Knowledge and Culture - Towards a Healthy Asia Commons Themes are fully described at: <http://www.asia-commons.net/about> Please submit paper proposals to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> by February 24, 2006. Proposals should include the title of the paper, an abstract and contact information of all authors. Paper writers will be given the opportunity to present their papers at Asia Commons and will be fully funded to attend the conference. Paper proposal deadline: February 24, 2006 Proposal acceptance: February 28, 2006 Full paper submission: April 1, 2006 For more information, please visit: http://www.asia-commons.net/papers Can't Join Us? For those unable to join us physically during the event, we invite you to participate through the participants discussion list and visit <http://www.asia-commons.net> for outputs during the conference itself. To subscribe to the participants discussion list, send an email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with the word subscribe in the subject. A special issue of i4d Magazine <http://www.i4donline.net> will be produced in June 2006 based on the conference and its themes. We look forward to seeing you at the Asia Commons. Your Organising Committee: Shikha Shrestha, Bellanet Asia (in partnership with SAP International) <http://www.sapint.org> Sarah Kerr, Bellanet International Secretariat <http://www.bellanet.org> Jaya Chittoor, Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies <http://www.csdms.in> Sunil Abraham, UNDP APDIP's International Open Source Network <http://www.iosn.net> -- Sunil Abraham, [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mahiti.org "Vijay Kiran" IInd Floor, 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mob: (91) 9342201521 UK: (44) 02000000259 ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>