Power and the Internet - A Re-Examination

The purpose of the workshop - in the tradition of previous transatlantic workshops co-hosted by the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard – is an unorthodox re-examination of core assumptions, this time relating to the power of the Internet and the control of the Internet by exerting power. As in previous years, the workshop will primarily have an initiating focus, encouraging the exchange of associations, provoking the reassessment of existing frames of mind, and perhaps contributing to the development of new conceptual models and ideas for more in depth research and analysis by cross-disciplinary activities.

Five broader themes of discussion are envisaged:

Theme I: Traditions of Power and the Internet; Theme II: New Phenomena of Power and the Internet; Theme III: Approaches to the Control of Internet Power; Theme IV: Addressing Conflicts of Power and the Internet; and Theme V: The Power of Power and the Network of Networks?