[ecrea] Call for Papers: EuroCPR: Online content: policy and regulation for a global market

> 26th European
> Communications Policy Research Conference (EuroCPR)
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> Online content: policy and regulation for a global market
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> 27-29 March 2011, Ghent, Belgium  
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> In May 2010, the European Commission published the “Digital Agenda for
> Europe”. One of the priorities is the development of a “vibrant digital
> single market”. Online content services are at the heart of the policy
> debate. A single European market for online content is perceived as being
> crucial for European competitiveness and growth. However, the reality of
> fragmented content markets illustrates the diversity of Europe’s
> cultures, languages and regulations. To some extent, firms benefit from
> national markets, e.g. because this reduces competition and allows for
> national pricing but firms also suffer from the fragmentation of Europe’s
> markets, e.g. because it limits scale advantages. 
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> The Digital Agenda is not just about the economic and cultural
> implications of the single market. Market trends are challenging nearly
> every definition, policy and regulation for online media. As audiovisual,
> music and other content services move online, demarcations within and
> between media and personal communication services and between platforms
> blur. Online content cuts across dichotomies such as open-closed,
> linear-interactive, professional-amateur, public-private, mobile-fixed
> and national-global. Issues around copyright, standards and
> interoperability become critical for the availability and use of online
> content.
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> The Digital Agenda for Europe addresses these policy issues, many of
> which were discussed earlier in the 1997 Green Paper on convergence.
> Since then, market and regulatory developments have cast new light on
> these issues. The Commission has announced a number of new initiatives
> which will critically define the shape of European online content
> markets, and the role of European players in global markets. 
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> We invite the EuroCPR community to reflect critically on the lessons
> learned over the last 15 years, and to contribute constructively to
> ongoing debates about policy and regulation for online content services.
> More specifically, we invite research papers that address: 
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> ·       A single European market for
> online content services? How is the European market developing for
> different media and for different parts of the value chain? Which
> European and global actors will benefit from a single European market?
> How do firms combine national and international strategies for
> innovation, service delivery and advertising? How is the single European
> market hindered by EU, national and non-governmental regulations and
> procedures for copyright licensing, copyright clearance, cross border
> transactions and VAT? 
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> ·       New competition and access
> issues: Net neutrality is part of a broader policy debate on
> competition and access at the intersection of networks, platforms and
> content. How are specific parts of the content market affected? Search
> engines are another issue. How dominant are search engines, what is the
> economic and cultural impact, and is social networking becoming an
> alternative for searching and advertising? What are the new
> intermediaries, e.g. actors that bundle content and devices, and actors
> that provide content distribution networks? Which new competition and
> access issues are clear enough to start a debate on market definitions
> and dominance, and whether policy makers should develop ex-ante
> regulation or rely on competition law? 
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> ·       Data protection and privacy:
> de-centralised data capture (e.g. by users and sensors) and cloud
> computing allow for ever-more data to be gathered and used for commercial
> purposes and for use by public organisations. Online content services
> that exploit these data, challenge the effectiveness of existing
> regulations. The exploitation of data is at the heart of many business
> models. Social networking and virtual worlds are two of the many
> services. Can we avoid legacy regulation that may stifle innovation and
> nascent markets? Do we need to adapt existing regulations to protect
> citizens and create legal certainty for firms and public organisations?
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> ·       Social networking: the
> development and take-up of social networking sites has been spectacular.
> The economic and social importance of social networking has made it a
> focal point in policy debates on privacy, security, digital literacy, and
> the competitiveness of Europe’s ICT and media sector. What policy issues
> emerge from studies on user behaviour? How is social networking
> integrated with other content services? How do we protect and empower
> youngsters? What is the right balance between self-regulation and formal
> regulation to protect privacy, within countries and across borders? What
> is the role of European firms in social networking, and why? 
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> ·       Digital literacy: the social
> and economic relevance of digital literacy is not disputed. However, the
> picture is less clear on how digital literacy contributes to social
> inclusion, involvement of users in the innovation process, take-up of new
> services and the competitiveness of firms. A related question is how
> policy programmes add drivers and remove barriers for digital literacy.
> What can policy makers learn from specific case studies, empirical
> analysis and policy evaluations? 
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> ·       Transnational governance: as
> new online services evolve, what role do national regulators,
> international institutions such as ACTA, ICANN, Internet address
> registries, or private sector self-governance play in setting and
> enforcing rules? How should inconsistencies between media services
> delivered over the Internet and those delivered through nationally
> regulated media outlets be resolved? How much responsibility should
> private sector internet intermediaries take for policing misbehaviour and
> enforcing policy?  
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> ·       Online content services after
> 2020: How do new services benefit from the semantic web, 3D,
> augmented reality, virtual reality, open data (e.g. open public sector
> data), and the combination of ICT and biotechnology and/or
> nanotechnology? What are the results of rigorous foresight studies that
> explore new content services and the implications for policy and
> regulation?
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> Policy design and implementation can benefit from evidence-based papers
> (empirical studies and impact assessments), prospective analysis and
> original theoretical/analytical contributions. We welcome papers that
> compare policy trends in Europe and other regions of the world.
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> Practical Information 
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> Time lines
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> - Deadline for abstracts: 11 October 2010
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> - Notification of selected abstracts: 3 November 2009
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> - Deadline of final papers: 1 March 2010
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> Abstracts
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> - Abstracts should be no longer than 1000 words and should address the
> research question, outline the main results, theory, methods and data (as
> appropriate) and highlight the policy relevance.
>
> - Abstracts should be sent to:
> (Monica.Arino /at/ ofcom.org.uk)
> and
> (Aphra.kerr /at/ nuim.ie)  
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> - All abstracts will be subject to a blind review procedure by the
> members of the EuroCPR Scientific Committee. 
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> Publications
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> A selection of papers will be published in Communication &
> Strategies, Telecommunications Policy and Info, the journal of policy,
> regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information and media.
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> Format
>
> The conference takes place in a single room, with sessions consisting of
> two presentations with discussants, and a general debate. The format has
> deliberately been kept small - with a maximum of 80 participants - thus
> favouring quality over quantity and encouraging a high level of
> interaction. We aim for a mix of senior experts and young talents, from
> academia, policy and industry. The conference includes a social
> programme. 
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> Registration
>
> Registration will open the 3rd of November 2010 at
> www.eurocpr.org. The conference fee
> is 390 Euro (290 Euro for PhD students).
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> Organisation committee
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> Martijn Poel, TNO, the Netherlands (chair)
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> Monica Ariño, Ofcom, UK
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> Leo Van Audenhove, VUB, Belgium
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> Anastasia Constantelou, University of Aegean, Greece
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> Karen Donders, VUB, Belgium
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> Aphra Kerr, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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> Jean Paul Simon, JRC-IPTS, Spain
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> EuroCPR
>
> With the continuous aim to bring together academics, policy makers and
> industry representatives, EuroCPR seeks to stimulate independent critical
> reflection, whilst being responsive to policy challenges. For additional
> information please visit
> www.eurocpr.org