International symposium "Transformations in the Cultural and Media Industries (CMI )" September 25, 26 and 27, 2006, Paris Since the end of the eighties the Cultural and Media Industries have undergone profound change. This has given rise occasionally to some rather spectacular phenomena, which have received extensive attention in the media, and been commented on by "experts", policy makers and economic decision-makers. Among the themes which have been most frequently discussed one might mention notably: the move towards deregulation; the various huge merger operations bringing together industrial groups and financial centres which have lead, against a background of globalisation, to an unprecedented degree of concentration; the flow of ideas and players around the notion of cultural exception and cultural diversity; the development of new cultural, informational or communication products accessible via the Internet or via mobile telephones or similar tools; movements opposed to existing commercial offers marked by the development of small structures of production targeted at micro - markets but also by the development of piracy; shift in the balance between content providers, software manufacturers, hardware manufacturers and network operators; the development of types of content, such as "reality television", which have appeared in Europe over the last few years. How should these developments be interpreted? Do they in fact constitute a major transformation? An examination of the current research into the Culture Industry, whether from the point of view of economics, law, sociology, political science, history, philosophy or communication and information sciences, the number of widely differing and contradictory approaches to the same issues is striking. A process needs to be launched which will end the current dispersal of existing studies. A new framework is needed. This is therefore the main objective of the international symposium on transformations in the Cultural and Media Industries organized the 25, 26 and 27 September 2006 at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris Nord. More information : http://www.observatoire-omic.org/omic_collevdet.php?docID=95.