The research agenda of GigaNet is driven by its diverse members. As a collective premier research event, GigaNet organizes an Annual Symposium at the Internet Governance Forum meetings. A flyer or the 2007 GigaNet Annual Symposium, suitable for distribution, is available. Also, an online version of the program, with papers available for download, is below:


9 a.m. Opening Session

9:15 a.m. Session 1: A Development Agenda for Internet Governance

In recent years, developing countries, civil society organizations, and concerned academics have promoted broad “development agendas” for reform of the
international regimes and organizations governing trade, debt, and intellectual property. But in the fi eld of Internet governance, no parallel initiative has taken shape. These papers analyze the linkages between existing global Internet governance mechanisms and development, the possible need for new mechanisms, and the potential foundations of a holistic development agenda.

Moderator: Derrick Cogburn, Syracuse University School of Information Studies, USA

Toward a Development Agenda for Internet Governance
William Drake, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

The WIPO Development Agenda: Lessons for the IGF
Viviana Munoz Tellez, South Centre, Geneva, Switzerland

Global Internet Standards and Developing Countries
Laura DeNardis, Yale Law School, New Haven (CT), USA

Internet Governance Mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean:
Implications for a Development Agenda
Olga Cavalli, Universidad de Buenos Aires and Instituto Tecnológico
de Buenos Aires, Argentina

10:30 a.m. Coffee break and poster session*

11 a.m. Session 2: The Changing Institutionalization of Internet Governance

The World Summit on the Information Society raised the profi le and changed the global policy discourse of Internet governance. The creation of the Internet Governance Forum was the most visible result. But there was also a willingness by more governments to participate in ICANN, an increase in the diversity of players entering Internet governance processes as stakeholders, and a wider discussion of Internet governance mechanisms and decision-making. These papers explore the dynamics of the changing institutionalization process.

Moderator: Eric Brousseau, EconomiX, Université de Paris X, France

Power and Multistakeholderism: The ICANN Experiment
Slavka Antonova, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

National ccTLD Regimes: Market Orientation and State Control
Y.J. Park, Syracuse University School of Information Studies, USA

Transnational Self-Regulation in the Shadow of Hierarchy
Jeanette Hofmann, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung, Germany

The Structural Power of Internet Governance
Charlotte Dany, University of Bremen Graduate School of Social Sciences, Germany

Institutionalization or Contestation? Battles over Expression and Privacy
Clifford Bob, Duquesne University Political Science Department, USA

12:30 p.m. Lunch and poster session*

1:45 p.m. Session 3: Critical Policy Issues in Internet Governance
Governance of the Internet is also defined by the way public policy makers respond to specific issues and problems, such as identity and security or net neutrality. Each of these issue-domains involves a distinctive set of policy conflicts, stakeholders, technologies, and institutional arrangements. These papers examine how global governance arrangements are being defined around specific Internet policy issues.

Moderator: Seiiti Arata Jr., Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Co-regulating Internet Security: The London Action Plan
Ian Brown, Oxford Internet Institute, UK
Chris Marsden, Essex University Law School, UK

Identity Theft in Developing Countries’ Banking Industry: Real Threat or Technological Bluff?
Alfonso Avila, UNIDO International Centre for Science and High Technology, Italy

Net Neutrality as Global Norm for Internet Governance
Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Information Studies, USA

The Cultural Industries and Upcoming Forms of Regulation and Self-regulation
Leo Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Department of Communication Studies, Belgium
Luciano Morganti, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Centre for Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication, Belgium
John Vanhoucke, Telindus, Belgium

Broadening Voices: Grassroots Tech Groups and Policy Objectives for Internet Governance
Arne Hintz, Central European University Center for Media and Communication Studies, Hungary
Stefania Milan, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
Adilson Cabral, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi (RJ), Brazil

3:45 p.m. GigaNet Business Meeting

Coffee breaks sponsored by Singapore Internet Research Centre, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore; and Mudra Institute of Communications Research, Ahmedabad, India