CALL FOR PAPERS 7th Annual Symposium 5 November 2012 Baku, Azerbaijan The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) is seeking submissions of research about Internet Governance to be presented at the Seventh GigaNet Annual Symposium, held on 5 November 2012, one day before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku, Azerbaijan. 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. http://giga-net.org/ Since 2006, GigaNet has organized an Annual Symposium to showcase research about Internet Governance, focusing on an interdisciplinary approach. As in previous years, the symposium will provide room to discuss current and future questions as well as the challenges encountered and results achieved in Global Internet Governance. Conference themes GigaNet is interested in receiving abstracts related to Internet Governance themes, especially those containing innovative approaches and/or emerging research areas. We encourage submissions on the following topics: * Internet policies on freedom of expression (censorship, kill-switches, filtering, policies that promote free expression, corporate social responsibility) * Internet freedom and governance in regions in transition (Arab region, Caucasus etc.) * From PIPA to ACTA: National and international agreements on online copyright enforcement * Cyber-security, the state and international relations * Dataveillance and privacy - the economic perspective * Global Internet infrastructure policy (net neutrality, peering and interconnection, ASN assignment, routing infrastructure security, etc.) * Innovative methods for Internet Governance research * The role of the UN and intergovernmental institutions in global Internet Governance * Policy issues surrounding ICANN’s new gTLD program * IP addressing: economic and technical challenges of scarcity and governance * Internet governance and development Other proposals on questions of global Internet governance will also be considered. Submissions Interested scholars should submit abstracts of research paper not later than 20 May 2012, at the Easy Chair platform: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=giganet2012. Paper proposals should be submitted following these requirements: * An abstract of 800-1000 words, in English, where it is mandatory to describe the main research goal(s) and the methodological background of the paper * A short bio note focused on institutional affiliations, advanced degrees, scholarly publications and work in the field of Internet Governance and related issues (for example ICTs). Please include a link to a more detailed CV. * Important note: accepted abstracts will be required to deliver their full paper a month before the conference. Those unable to do so will be removed from the program. Process and publication The Program Committee members will evaluate the abstracts submitted and decisions will be sent to applicants by email before 15 June 2012. Accepted papers for oral presentations should be followed by a full research paper to be sent by 30 September 2012. Some quality papers submitted that are not accepted for oral presentations will be recommended for poster presentations. Accepted speakers and poster presenters’ submissions and final papers will be published on the GigaNet website. An online publication with selected papers on the main challenges of Internet Governance is also planned for the Azerbaijan IGF. Registration The GigaNet Annual Symposium is free of charge. However, registration will be required to gain entry to the event venue. Please continue visiting our website for further information about registration, venue and accommodation. GigaNet 2012-13 Program Committee * Leo Van Audenhove – PC Chair, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium * Milton Mueller – GigaNet Steering Committee Chair, Syracuse University, USA * Titi Akinsanmi – University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa * Sandra Braman – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA * Fatima Cambronero – AGEIA DENSI, Argentina * Laura DeNardis – American University, USA * Dmitry Epstein – Cornell University, USA * John Gathegi – University of South Florida, USA * Hans Klein – Georgia Institute of Technology, USA * Francesca Musiani – MINES ParisTech, France * Jamal Shahin – University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, The Netherlands * Sonny Zulhuda – International Islamic University, Malaysia If you have any question related to the submission or the symposium activities, please e-mail the Program Committee Chair: leo.van.audenhove@vub.ac.be.