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Dear friends and colleagues,
As the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2007 will be taking place shortly in Rio
de Janeiro, we thought it might be timely for a newsletter that highlights some
of the OII's efforts to inform and stimulate debate on issues of Internet
Governance. These include: a new working paper, OII involvement in the IGF
2007, and two key events to be held in London. These forthcoming activities add
to our ongoing programme of seminars, forums and conferences on this topic,
which we regard as central to ensuring that the Internet realises its full
potential.
Best wishes,
Bill Dutton, Director
1. The IGF 2007: The OII at Rio
2. New Working Paper on Internet Governance
3. Webcasts on Internet Governance
4. Events Diary
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1. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2007: The OII at Rio
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The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder forum set up after
the UN's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to facilitate the
international discussion of governance issues relating to the Internet. The
first IGF was held in Athens in 2006, and the second will take place shortly in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (12-15 November 2007).
IGF: http://www.intgovforum.org/
DPhil student Marcelo Thompson's proposal for a workshop 'Human Rights and
Neutrality in the Internet' at the IGF has been welcomed by the IGF
Secretariat. The workshop (13 Nov, 16:30-18:00) will seek to address the
question: 'In which sense are technologically neutral laws and policies
suitable to harness the development of a people-centred Information Society and
to protect and fulfil the human right of access to knowledge and technology?'
The workshop is being co-organized by the Center for Technology and Society
(CTS) at the FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro. Speakers: Michael Geist
(University of Ottawa), Ronaldo Lemos (CTS/FGV, iCommons), Andrew McLaughlin
(Google, Berkman Center), Claudio Prado (Brazilian Ministry of Culture),
Marcelo Thompson (OII), Moderator: Pedro Paranagua (CTS/FGV).
The proposal is at:
http://info.intgovforum.org/yoppy.php?poj=86
OII Research Fellow Dr Ian Brown has also co-organised a workshop: 'Managing
security issues: authentication at the transaction level'. Download the flyer
(pdf, 74kb):
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/IGF2007_IanBrown_Flyer.pdf
Marcelo will represent Ian on this panel, and OII Visiting Fellow Mary Rundle
on two other panels:
'Privacy in Internet Identity Management: Emerging Issues and New Approaches'
http://info.intgovforum.org/yoppy.php?poj=42
'Fundamental Freedoms in the IGF: Protecting and Promoting Freedom of
Expression, Freedom of Assembly and Association, and Privacy in the Information
Society'
http://info.intgovforum.org/yoppy.php?poj=20
Ian Brown will also give a paper on 'Co-regulating Internet Security: The
London Action Plan' at the Global Internet Governance Academic Network's
(GigaNet) second annual symposium. This takes place the day before the IGF in
Rio. Download the paper (pdf, 1mb):
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/GigaNet_IanBrown_LondonActionPlan.pdf
Vicki Nash supported the UK's contributions to the IGF by acting as a judge for
the BERR/Nominet Best Practice Challenge. This joint initiative between Nominet
and the Dept for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform sought to identify
UK organisations, groups or individuals that have delivered a safer, more
accessible, diverse Internet experience and who will be showcased as examples
of best practice in Rio. Details:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/about/bestpracticechallenge/
Two other events coming up are:
1. The first of what we hope to be an annual 'Global Status of the Net'
conference (30 November)
We will be working with the US Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
(ICAC) to provide a neutral platform for a policy dialogue on challenging
technology policy issues, including Internet Governance. The conference will
feature parliamentary leaders from across Europe, Members of the US
Cogressional Internet Caucus and other government officials, leading tech
policy academics, industry executives and representatives from NGOs.
2. What's in a name? (28 January)
A lecture and discussion to provide an oportunity to commemorate Jon Postel by
looking back at the history of the Domain Name System (DNS), explain its
management and its significance to different actors, and discuss the merits of
alternative scenarios in the future, including proposals for such innovations
as Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) (more details to follow). This event
will be sponsored primarily by Afilias, a global leader in advanced registry
services.
Jon Postel: http://www.postel.org/postel.html
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2. New Working Paper on Internet Governance
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We have a new working paper on Internet Governance by Terje Rasmussen (OII
Visitor in 2007): 'Techno-politics, Internet Governance and some challenges
facing the Internet'. It addresses the Internet as a terrain of
'techno-political controversies' which have influenced the development of the
Internet since the start. Download the paper (pdf, 125kb):
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/publications/RR15.pdf
Fragments: 'We have entered the fourth phase of the Net's history,
characterised by several opposing tendencies: increasingly advanced technical
solutions that bring new terminals and platforms and a greater awareness of
what the Net represents in a social sense, but also a closer legal and
political intervention in the Net by the IT bureaucrats.'
'The Net's architecture assumed moral surroundings – which the same
architecture's success is now in the process of weakening. An increasing number
of functions are being installed on the Net to protect users against
breakdowns, sabotage and contamination of information, but such measures
distance the Net from its original principle.'
Other OII working papers that address Internet Governance:
Dutton / Palfrey / Peltu: 'Deciphering the Codes of Internet Governance:
Understanding the Hard Issues at Stake' Summary of an event organised around
the topics of openness, security, diversity and access and providing an
overview of the IGF and the issues it plans to address (Sept 2006).
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/publications/FD8.pdf
Dutton / Peltu: 'The emerging Internet governance mosaic: connecting the
pieces' Summary of a forum attended by members of the WGIG Secretariat (May
2005).
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/resources/publications/FD5.pdf
You can see more governance work at:
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/project.cfm?id=35
Our working papers can be found at:
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/publications.cfm
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3. Webcasts on Internet Governance
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Much of our research on Internet Governance has centred on a programme of
seminars, forums and conferences. Resulting webcasts are listed below:
Internet Governance for Development: Focusing on the Issues
Focus: Summary of an event organised around the topics of openness, security,
diversity and access and providing an overview of the IGF and the issues it
plans to address. Open discussion (rec. 31 Aug-1 Sept 2006)
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20060831_157
Recent Developments in FCC Internet Regulation
Focus: Summarising the swift move of the US Federal Commmunications Commission
in removing old rules (common carriage) and imposing new ones (E911, CALEA),
and assessing the current US debate about network owners' provision of a
'prioritized Internet' (rec. 18 April 2006)
Speaker: Susan Crawford (a member of the ICANN board of directors)
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20060418_142
Internet Governance for Dummies
Focus: What aspects of the Internet need to be governed, and how effectively
are ICANN, the IETF, and the ITU dealing with the key issues of Internet
governance? (rec. 4 July 2005)
Speaker: John Levine (a member of ICANN's At Large Advisory Committee)
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20050704_77
The Future of the Internet - and How to Stop It
Focus: What lies around the corner for the Internet, how to avoid it, and how
to study and affect the future of the Internet using the distributed power of
the network itself, using privacy as a signal example (rec. 25 April 2005)
Speaker: Professor Jonathan Zittrain
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/?view=Webcast&ID=20060411_141
Webcast site:
http://webcast.oii.ox.ac.uk/
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4. Events Diary
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Exploring the distributed development of Grid infrastructure for Particle
Physics at the LHC: A case of Scaled Agility?
Speaker: Will Venters, Dept of Information Systems, LSE
Focus: Describing research undertaken within the EPSRC-funded Pegasus project
to explore the working practices of the UK particle physics community in their
development of Grid infrastructure to support their research at the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC).
Date: Tues 6 November (15:00 - 17:00)
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/details.cfm?id=163
Digital Diplomacy: the impact of the Internet on international relations
Speaker: Dr Nicholas Westcott, CMG (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
Focus: Exploring how the Internet contributes to the fraying of the power of
the state in international relations, how non-state actors exert influence, and
how the Internet changes both the dynamic of traditional diplomatic
negotiations, and the way foreign ministries and embassies operate.
Date: Wed 14 November (12:15 - 13:30)
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/details.cfm?id=162
The Internet and the Delegalization of Law
Speaker: Professor Fred Schauer, Harvard University
Focus: Technological changes, such as the Internet, have made access to
nonlegal information, such as newspaper reports and general interest books far
less costly. Professor Schauer discusses the issues raised by this trend, such
as whether it foreshadows the decreased dominance of traditional canon of legal
information within the courts.
Date: Thurs 15 November (15:00 - 16:30)
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/details.cfm?id=166
The 2008 Democratic Global Primary: How Democrats Abroad will use the Internet
to encourage political participation and increase overseas voting
Speakers: Jon Cooper and Meredith A. Gowan Le Goff (American Democrats Abroad)
Focus: In June of 2007, Democrats Abroad voted to kick-off the 2008 delegate
selection process with a global primary, so that Democrats around the world can
easily participate. It is the first time that Internet-based voting is going to
be used on such a large scale for a primary election: according to Democrats
Abroad, e-voting will make voting easier and increase participation in the
Democratic primary and in the general election in 2008, especially amongst
overseas Americans living in remote rural areas.
Date: Wed 28 November (15:00 - 17:00)
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/details.cfm?id=167
Networked Information Processing and Changing Attitudes to Privacy in Japan
Speaker: Dr Andrew A. Adams, School of Systems Engineering, Reading University
Focus: There is a myth amongst researchers that there is no such thing as
'Privacy' in Japan. Dr Adams refutes that and shows that the advent of
networked information processing of personal data has brought Japanese
attitudes to information privacy to a highly similar position to Western
attitudes.
Date: Thurs 14 February (15:30 - 17:00)
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/events/details.cfm?id=165
Please register for any of these events by sending your name and affiliation to:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Editor: David Sutcliffe]
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
1 St Giles Oxford OX1 3JS
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1865 287210
Fax: +44 (0)1865 287211
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk
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