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Google and Central European University have teamed up to co-sponsor an international conference, Internet at Liberty 2010, to address the complex issues facing the development of the Internet as a global, free and open space. The event is held at the campus of CEU in Budapest on September 20-22. Most events of the conference program, with the exception of the discrete workshops about online tools and tactics for advocacy and protection on the 20th, will be broadcast live online.
UPDATE: You can watch the full conference sessions on the CEU YouTube channel. Also recommended is the live-blog from the conference by the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Jillian York. You can find back some of the Tweets that were posted during the conference under the hash tag #IAL2010.
The CMCS has been working hard to help make this event happen, and we invite you to tune in to the webcast and the liveblog from 9 AM on the 21st. Both live participants and remote viewers can join the discussion on Twitter under the hash tag #IAL2010.
The dynamic and decentralized nature of the Internet offers new opportunities for communication and free expression as well as new threats. Governments that wish to control the spread of information and activists using digital technologies to promote change are becoming increasingly sophisticated and strategic as they confront each other around the world.
Internet at Liberty 2010 brings together hundreds of activists, bloggers and officials from the public and private sector to explore the often controversial policy issues of Internet communication. The conference program addresses the boundaries of online free expression; the complex relationship among technology, economic growth and human rights; the ways in which dissidents and governments are using the Internet; and urgent policy and legal issues of online communication such as privacy and cybersecurity.
The conference and break-out sessions focuses on issues including the role of the Internet as a democratizing force, challenges for governments and the private sector, and the complexities of promoting and protecting free expression. It also provides a forum to highlight national case studies and efforts to advance transparency and accountability. At discrete conference workshops, activists, NGOs and companies help individuals learn ways to practice Internet advocacy while protecting their security and privacy.