Background,“Network Neutrality” is an appealing and multifaceted expression which encompasses several areas and may give rise to misinterpretations. At its core, the notion of network-neutrality determines the extent to which Internet traffic management practices (TMP) may be regarded as legitimate, insofar as they do not qualify as discriminatory practices and they are consistent with the full enjoyment of human-rights. Yet, throughout the last decade, this polysemous formula has acquired different meanings, invading the province of telecommunications, content and security regulation. The Network Neutrality debate is gaining great political momentum. Indeed, many legislators are currently scrutinizing the opportunity of elaborating and adopting legislation on network neutrality. While everyone agrees that the fundamental rights of Internet users have to be safeguarded, the question remains as to how this end could be achieved, and what are the most effective means to achieve such an objective.
Call The Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality, created under the auspices of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, invites researchers and practitioners to submit a position paper on the issue of net neutrality and human rights. Position papers should provide relevant background information together with one or more propositions on how to preserve fundamental human rights (such as the right to privacy or freedom of expression) on the Internet of tomorrow. Suggested topics include, inter alia:Implementation of the Network Neutrality principle:• How to approach network neutrality? Regulation or co-regulation? • Is fair competition a sufficient safeguard for fundamental rights?• Can current examples of network-neutrality legislation be deemed as efficient?• Is there a difference between “open Internet” and “neutral Internet”? Impact of Network Neutrality on human rights:• Analysis of network neutrality case-law: Current violations of the Net Neutrality principle and their impact on human rights• How to reconcile anti-network neutrality arguments with the protection of human rights ?• From gateways to gatekeepers: assessing the role of ISPs with regard to access to information.• Net Neutrality and global access to the Internet: a “digital divide” issue• Digital democracy: the impact of network neutrality regulation on civic participation • Benefits and risks of Deep Packet Inspection as an Internet traffic management technique
Submission Guidelines: Research papers, including analytical and theoretical papers, position papers, or case studies will be considered for inclusion in the report, even if they have been previously published.
The length of the submissions should be between 3000 and 6000 words. To facilitate the reviewing process, papers should not include author names or other information that would help identify the authors. All paper should be in English language, and formatted according to the HWPiL style template.
Submissions are due on September 15th, 2013. They should include the following elements:- Title- Short abstract (250 words)- Original contribution- Author’s name, affiliation and short bibliographical note (in the body of the email).Submissions should be sent to contact@networkneutrality.info
Authors will be notified within approximately two weeks from the deadline as to the status of their contributions.All submitted papers will be subject to a rigorous double-blind peer review, whereby each paper will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Everyone who submitted a paper will be asked to peer review another submission, which will be judged according to the novelty of the contribution, the theoretical soundness and the quality of presentation.
Authors will be given the opportunity to improve their contributions based on peer comments.Selected papers will be published into the Dynamic Coalition report, which will be published under Open Access conditions. All authors must ensure that their contribution can be licensed under one of the Creative Commons licenses of their choice.Some of the authors will also be invited (at their own expenses) to present their work at the first DC meeting to be held at the United Nation Internet Governance Forum 2013 in Bali.
