Internet Governance Panel at ISA Convention tomorrow

I have organized a panel on "Control and Governance of the Internet: Beyond Realism vs. Internationalism" for the International Studies Association 50th Annual Convention that has started today in New York City. Short description:

The debate about “who controls the internet” has recently been narrowed down to one between Realists and Internationalists/Transnationalists. The former see nation-states or big powers as the main regulatory forces; the latter point to the impact of international regimes and transnational forums as well as to processes of policy diffusion. What is often ignored is the influence of non-obvious political variables, such as technology trends and market developments, as well as the complex relationships between international regimes and national idiosyncrasies. This panel aims at broadening the view on internet governance and putting the realists-internationalists debate into perspective by addressing these larger issues. The general focus is still on the “control” question: Who controls the internet, and how? What exactly is being controlled, and what is beyond the traditional grasp of politics?

The panelists and their papers are:

• Brenden Kuerbis, Syracuse University: "Securing critical Internet resources: Influence and control of Internet standards through delegation and social networks"
• John Mathiason, Syracuse University: "Thinking Globally at the IGF and Acting Locally: the national-global nexus"
• Konstantinos Komaitis, University of Strathclyde: "Internet Governance: Why Plato is still relevant"
• J. P. Singh, Georgetown University: "What is Being Controlled on the Internet? Security implications of multilateral approaches to negotiating Internet governance"
• Ryan Kiggins, University of Florida: "Wired World: U.S. Identity, Security, and Governance of the Internet"
• Ralf Bendrath, Delft University of Technology: "Global technology trends and national regulation: Explaining Variation in the Governance of Deep Packet Inspection"
• Discussant: Milton L. Mueller, Syracuse University and TU Delft.
  

Most of the papers are or will be available here.

Thanks to Derrick Cogburn and the Cotelco Lab at Syracuse University, we'll have remote participation options. The panel is taking place on Monday, 16 February 2009, 16:15-18:00 EST. If you want to join us, you find the link here about an hour before we start.