May

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Computers, Freedom, & Privacy 2008 Conference

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sascha's picture

I've been on the coordinating committee for the upcoming Computers, Freedom, & Privacy Conference which is taking place up in New Haven, CT later this month. The schedule is now just about finalized and it has shaped up to be an amazing group of intellectuals and experts.

Here's more information for anyone who's interested in these issues:

    COMPUTERS, FREEDOM, AND PRIVACY: TECHNOLOGY POLICY '08
    http://cfp2008.org/
    18th Annual CFP conference
    May 20-23, 2008
    Omni Hotel
    New Haven, CT

    Conference Blog: http://cfp08.blogspot.com/
    Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=683858084
    Conference Wiki: http://cfp.wikia.com/wiki/CFP08
    LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/61857/7885844E0F9D

    Hotel Conference Discount Deadline: May 1, 2008
    Early Bird Registration: Fri., May 2, 2008
    YJoLT Tech Policy Essay Contest: Mon., May 5, 2008

    ABOUT CFP: TECHNOLOGY POLICY `08

    What should the technology policy priorities of the next administration be?

    As the choice of presidential candidates becomes clearer and election year moves towards a comparison of the candidates' platforms on the issues, technology policy is increasingly relevant to the forefront of public debate. In the areas of privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and freedom of speech, topics that were once confined to experts now appear in the mainstream of political issues. We now know that our decisions about technology policy are being made at a time as the architectures of our information and communication technologies are still being built.

    This year, the 18th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference is focusing on those issues at the forefront of technology policy this election year. With plenary panels on the "National Security State and the Next Administration" and "The 21st Century Panopticon?" the discussions taking place look towards our present and future priorities.

    CFP: Technology Policy '08 is an opportunity to participate in shaping those issues being made into laws and regulations and those technological infrastructures being developed. Policies ranging from spyware and national security, to ISP filtering and patent reform, e-voting to electronic medical records, and more will be addressed by expert panels of technologists, policymakers, business leaders, and activists. The panel topics are listed below and full panel descriptions are available on the conference website at:

    http://www.cfp2008.org/wiki/index.php/Program.

    The CFP: Technology Policy `08 conversation has already begun in the virtual spaces connected to the conference. Even if you are unable to attend the conference this year, there are several opportunities to participate remotely. The guiding principles that ought to guide our policies are being debated on the conference blog. Social networking groups on Facebook and LinkedIn are providing new spaces for the CFP community to meet and discuss. The Yale Journal of Law and Technology is hosting a call for essays, on the priorities of the next administration, with more details below.

    We look forward to seeing you in New Haven on May 20-23.

    CONFERENCE PROGRAM

    Plenary Sessions
    Presidential Technology Policy: Priorities for the Next Executive
    The 21st Century Panopticon?
    The National Security State and the Next Adminstration

    Tutorials
    A Short History of Privacy
    Constitutional Law in Cyberspace
    e-Deceptive Campaign Practices: Elections 2.0
    Maintaining Privacy While Accessing On-line Information

    Panel Sessions
    Activism and Education Using Social Networks
    Breaking the Silence: Iranians Find a Voice on the Internet
    Charismatic Content: Wikis, Social Networks, and the Future of
    User-Generated Content
    Filtering Out Copyright Infringement: Possibilities, Practicalities, and
    Legalities
    Filtering and Censorship in Europe
    Hate Speech and Oppression in Cyberspace
    Interoperability at the Crossroads?: The "Liberal Order" versus
    Fragmentation
    Law, Regulation, and Software Licensing for the Electronic Medical Record
    Measuring Global Threats to Internet Freedom
    Network Neutrality: Beyond the Slogans
    New Challenges for Spyware Policy
    Patents: The Bleeding Edge of Technology Policy
    Privacy, Reputation, and the Management of Online Communities
    Rights & Responsibilities for Software Programs?
    States as Incubators of Change
    "The Transparent Society:" Ten Years Later
    Towards Trustworthy e-Voting: An Open Source Approach?

    CALL FOR ESSAYS

    Yale Journal of Law & Technology Call for Essays on the Technology Policy of the New Administration.
    Deadline: Monday, May 5th

    The Yale Journal of Law & Technology (YJoLT) is seeking essay-length submissions concerning the technology policy platform of the new American presidential administration. Essays selected for publication will appear in the Fall Issue of YJoLT (publication date November 2008).

    Ideal submissions will discuss the priorities and guiding principles that American technology policy should follow. Submissions analyzing a particular technology policy issue in depth will also be accepted.

    Essays of less than 5,000 words are preferred. Please submit all essays to yjolt.submissions@gmail.com. Please include the text "CFP Essay" in the subject line of the email. The authors of essays selected for publication will be notified on a rolling basis. Any questions can be directed to Lara Rogers, lara.rogers@yale.edu.

    CONFERENCE FUNDING FOR JOURNALISTS

    The Yale Law School Law and Media Program (LAMP) announces an opportunity for journalists to receive full funding to attend CFP: Technology Policy 08.

    CFP: Technology Policy 08 will begin with a full day of tutorials and programming specifically geared toward journalists writing about information technology and policy, followed by a networking reception for journalists and other participants in the Law and Media Program.

    We invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of US technology policy in the information age.

    Journalists writing on privacy, intellectual property, telecommunications and cyberlaw are encouraged to apply for conference funding, which will include travel, hotel, meals and any registration fees for the full conference.

    To apply, please send a cover letter explaining your interest in the program, along with your resume and three writing samples (by e-mail and hard copy) to Tracey Parr (tracey.parr@yale.edu), Yale Law School, P.O. Box 208215, New Haven, CT 06520-8215, by March 31, 2008. Up to twenty journalists will receive conference funding. Applicants accepted for conference funding will be notified by April 4, 2008.

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  1. Brett Glass (not verified) on Wed, 2008-05-07 13:10

    Apparently, control of the program of the CFP conference has fallen into the hands of ideologues who seek to promote their selfish agendas (rather than the public good) via the conference. A good example is the session titled, "Network Neutrality: Beyond the Slogans." The title of the session creates the initial impression that perhaps one would see an unbiased presentation of the issues. However, the description, at http://www.cfp2008.org/wiki/index.php/Network_Neutrality:_Beyond_the_Slogans, contains one-sided and highly biased statements, such as "we have seen major violations of network neutrality" (as if this assertion and any definition of the term were not open to debate) and "debates over network neutrality are often not only contentious, but also unhelpful, if not dishonest" (as if it were a foregone conclusion that those who did not agree with the unnamed author of the description were necessarily dishonest). What's more, while the panelists are not listed, I have not been able to identify a single person who is actually in the business of providing Internet service who is on the panel; rather, all of the panelists I've identified appear to be lobbyists and/or people who take an extreme viewpoint on the topic. This obvious bias does harm to the credibility and reputation of the conference and its organizers.

  2. sascha on Wed, 2008-05-07 21:25

    I can understand your consternation, but the goal of the event is to get past exactly this sort of rhetoric. Given that even Comcast has admitted that they've been degrading certain traffic, the FCC is investigating several providers for similar behavior, and Vuze just completed a fairly in-depth analysis documenting the widespread use of tools that degrade certain types of traffic, claims of network neutrality violations aren't open to interpretation, they're statements of well-established and documented fact.

    Given that the conference is run by public interest folks, many of whom have dedicated their lives to working for the public good; if you're going to disagree with the assessments, that's fine -- and might even add to the debate -- but ad hominems against these people don't really hold much water.


  3. Brett Glass (not verified) on Wed, 2008-05-14 21:31

    If the goal of the event is to "get past rhetoric," a session whose description is 100% loaded words rhetoric is not going to achieve that goal. Your use of the words "admitted" and "degrading" above is likewise loaded language. And the so-called "well documented facts" published by Vuze are in fact rhetoric and accusations which serve its own selfish financial interests.

    If you wanted to get past rhetoric, you would say that Comcast has acknowledged that it is shaping traffic, which is not at all non-neutral. In fact, one could well say that by throttling P2P, which is decidedly non-neutral (it attempts to seize priority for itself by exploiting known bugs in TCP, and also shifts costs to ISPs), Comcast was attempting to maintain neutrality on its network.

    It is the organizers of the conference who are launching ad hominem attacks against Comcast and against ISPs in general -- just as your loaded language above attacks them. I would say that my analysis not only holds water but exposes a group of Washington lobbyists who are manufacturing issues -- and bogeymen -- for their own self-enrichment. And I stand by my statement that they have hijacked the CFP Conference as a way of furthering their own interests in this way.

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