[Hague-jur-commercial-law] Cato's Who Rules the Net?

[Manon Ress]

Miriam Nisbet asked me to post this:

http://www.cato.org/events/techconf03/index.html

Who Rules the Net?
Debating Internet Jurisdiction and Governance
The Cato Institute’s Seventh Annual
Technology & Society Conference
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
8:00 a.m.–12:45 p.m.

Cato Institute
F.A. Hayek Auditorium
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Watch the Event Live in RealVideo
Listen to the Event in RealAudio (Audio Only)

Many people have praised the Internet for its ubiquitous and 
“borderless” nature and argued that this global medium is revolutionary. 
Indeed, the World Wide Web increasingly challenges traditional concepts 
of jurisdiction, governance, and sovereignty. In the universe of 
cyberspace there are no passports, and geography is often treated as a 
meaningless concept.

But does that mean that traditional concepts of jurisdiction and 
governance are obsolete? When legal disputes arise in cyberspace, or 
when governments attempt to apply clashing legal standards or cultural 
norms to the Internet, how are such matters to be adjudicated?

The variance in regulatory preferences from country to country is 
highlighted by policy disputes over free speech and libel, privacy, 
intellectual property, antitrust policy, and domain name registration, 
among other things. Myriad laws and regulations for “real” space are now 
being directly challenged by the rise of the parallel electronic 
universe known as cyberspace.

Who is responsible for setting the standards in cyberspace? Is a “UN for 
the Internet” or a multinational treaty appropriate? If not, whose 
standards should govern cross-border cyber disputes? Are different 
standards appropriate for cyberspace and “real” space? Those nagging 
questions are being posed with increasing frequency.

This year’s Technology & Society conference marks the release of the new 
Cato book Who Rules the Net? Internet Governance and Jurisdiction. The 
conference will explore the newest developments in Internet jurisdiction 
and assess the future of public policy online.

This conference is free of charge. For more information, call (202) 
218-4633 or e-mail techandsociety@cato.org. Registrations must be 
received by Wednesday, October 15, 2003.
7:30–8:00 a.m. Registration–F.A. Hayek Auditorium Foyer
8:00–8:10 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.
Director of Technology Policy, Cato Institute
Adam D. Thierer
Director of Telecommunications Studies, Cato Institute
8:15–8:45 a.m. Opening Keynote Address
Hon. Christopher Cox (R–Calif.)
Chairman, House Policy Committee
Panel 1: "Governance: Debating the Rise of Legal and Technological 
Borders on an Open Internet"
9:00–10:30 a.m. Tim Wu
University of Virginia Law School
David Post
Temple University Law School
Bruce Kobayashi
George Mason University School of Law
Peter Trooboff
Covington & Burling
Gary Jackson
Quova
10:30–10:45 a.m. Break
Panel 2: "Who Rules? Current Clashes and the Future of Online Jurisdiction"
10:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Robert Corn-Revere
Davis Wright Tremaine
Kurt Wimmer
Covington & Burling
Michael Greve
American Enterprise Institute
Jonathan Band
Morrison & Foerster
Marc Pearl
IT Policy Solutions
12:00–12:45 p.m. Luncheon Keynote Address
Jeffrey J. Kovar,
U. S. Department of State Chief U. S. Negotiator, Hague Convention, and 
Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law
12:45 p.m. Lunch—Wintergarden

From:
M. Nisbet
Legislative Counsel
American Library Association
1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW - #403
Washington, D.C. 20004-1701
Voice: 202-628-8410, x. 202,
or 800-941-8478, x. 202
Fax: 202-628-8419
e-mail: mnisbet@alawash.org <mailto:mnisbet@alawash.org>
http://www.ala.org/washoff


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