[spectre] WIO Conference: The Network Society of Control

[Eric Kluitenberg]

Dear Spectrites,

Please find the general announcement of the World-Information.Org 
conference we are organising end of next week - FYI..

best,
Eric

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A   N   N   O   U   N   C   E   M   E   N   T

THE NETWORK SOCIETY OF CONTROL

World-Info-Con Amsterdam 2002

A public conference in the frame of World-Information.Org Amsterdam 2002


De Balie
Centre for Culture and Politics,  Amsterdam
Friday December 6 & Saturday December 7, 2002
http://www.balie.nl/wio
http://www.world-information.org



Introduction:

The tidal wave of new security legislation that has followed the 
tragic events of September 11, 2001, have made a critical examination 
of information politics in the network society uncommonly urgent. The 
Amsterdam edition of World-Info-Con 2002 will be an international and 
interdisciplinary forum to examine the recent developments in 
information law, policing and surveillance, and intellectual property 
rights in the digital domain.

The conference will divide up into two parts:

Day 1 - Security Paranoia in the World-Info-Sphere: This part 
examines the new forms of policing of the informational domains and 
some of the more hidden incentives behind the drive for 
info-security. The final section of the first day, "Public Mind 
Control" is devoted to a critical analysis of the mechanisms of 
public opinion management and disinformation strategies.

Day 2 -  Building the Digital Commons: The second day is devoted to 
the control obsession over intellectual property rights and the new 
limitations imposed on digital information exchange. The conference 
presents a series of arguments for the construction of a "Digital 
Commons"; a democratically regulated information space in which new 
mechanisms for public accountability are developed alongside 
innovative models for a digital public sphere.


Context:

A number of key-trends unfold alongside each other: First of all a 
radical expansion of policing and surveillance powers on the part of 
police and investigative authorities, manifested in new laws and 
increased budgets, apparently meant to counter a deep anxiety about 
security. In the process of the expansion of policing powers, 
especially in the field of electronic communications, concerns about 
privacy and civil liberty are given a significantly lower priority. 
Secondly new legislation directives have been passed governing 
Intellectual Property rights, almost simultaneously in the United 
States and the European Union. These new legal frameworks 
significantly restrict the free use of intellectual products and 
threaten the free-flow of information, which for a long time was 
considered one of the key characteristics of the Internet.

These trends seem quite at odds with the open ended, exchange-based 
character of the network society. Increased openness of networks and 
exchange apparently conjures up severe anxieties about security and 
control. While these trends could already be observed for a longer 
time, they have gained true momentum after the 9-11 events. They 
exert increasing pressure on the formerly sovereign domains of the 
individual; privacy and (informational) self-determination.

World-Info-Con intends to bring together a wide variety of speakers 
and participants: researchers, politicians, policy makers in the 
field of justice, economic and technology policy, representatives of 
social interest groups, intellectual property rights specialist, 
activists, journalists and cultural workers.

Beyond addressing the immediate and urgent questions of recent 
developments in legislation, surveillance and the implementation of 
information politics, the conference will explore the more hidden 
social and cultural dimensions of these developments. Information is 
one of the primary materials that cultural products are made off. The 
choices that are currently being made about how information will be 
handled, valued, and controlled determine the space for future 
cultural production in the informational domain; the space of 
information and communication networks, and the media at large.

The themes of World-Info-Con lie at the heart of information 
politics. The conference will address the balance that has to be 
struck between security and control in the infosphere, and the 
concerns about freedom of expression, privacy and informational 
self-determination. World-Info-Con questions to what extent private 
ownership of intellectual products is warranted and legitimate, and 
where the demands and urgency of a digital commons needs to impose 
restrictions on the commodification of information.

A critical analysis from the side of cultural producers and mediators 
is essential to establish the frameworks of future cultural 
production in the network society. In a democratic tradition art and 
culture are spaces of freedom and self-realisation. We want to work 
together with researchers, policy makers, social interest groups, 
cultural agents and politicians to make sure that such an open space 
will continue to exist as we move further into the 'Information Age'.


The final program will be announced shortly at:
http://www.balie..nl/wio

Conference language: English

The entire conference will be streamed live ­ find the stream at:
http://www.balie.nl/live

At the occasion of the conference a reader with background materials 
will be on sale for production costs.


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Conference Speakers:

Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm,
A practising lawyer at SOLV new business advocaten, specialised in 
intellectual property law. Publishes and lectures regularly, and 
teaches copyright law at the University of Amsterdam.
http://www.solv.nl/PE-pple.html

Ben Bagdikian
Media critic and former Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, 
University of California, Berkeley. 
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media/MediaMonopoly_Bagdikian.html

Konrad Becker
Director of Public Netbase Vienna, Initiator of World-Information.Org 
and author of the "Tactical Reality Dictionary" on Cultural 
Intelligence and Social Control
http://www.t0.or.at/

Andrew Bichlbaum
WTO / GATT.ORG representative, member of The Yesmen, and 
disinformation specialist.
http://www.theyesmen.org/

Steve Cisler,
A librarian and telecommunications consultant who has been involved 
with community networks since 1986.
http://home.inreach.com/cisler/

Darius Cuplinskas,
Director of the OSI Information Program and co-initiator of the Open 
Access Initiative, Budapest.
http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml

Bruce Girard
A journalist, researcher, and educator, co-author of Global Media 
Governance  - A Beginner's Guide, with Seán Ó Siochrú and Amy Mahan
http://www.comunica.org/

Volker Grassmuck,
Researcher at the Humbold University Berlin, and initiator of the 
Wizards of OS conferences on the social dynamics of open source 
systems.
http://www.wizards-of-os.org/
http://waste.informatik.hu-berlin.de/Grassmuck/

Chris Hables Gray,
Editor of the famous "Cyborg Handbook" and author of "Postmodern 
War", which has become a standard in conflict research.
http://www.uni-muenster.de/PeaCon/wuf/wf-90/9021001m.htm

Brian Holmes,
Writer, art critic, translator, theoretician of anti-capitalism, 
co-edited amongst others the Documenta X book.
http://utangente.free.fr/ac.html

Steve Kurtz
Artist / theorist, member of Critical Art Ensemble.
http://www.critical-art.net/

Eveline Lubbers
Investigative journalist, author of "Battling Big Business", a  book 
on Corporate Counter-Campaigns.
http://www.evel.nl

Arun Mehta
Delhi based activist and educator. President of the Society for 
Telecommunications Empowerment (STEM), which seeks to bring the 
benefits of modern telecommunications to the poor.
http://www.radiophony.com/html_files/promoters/arun.html

Axel Plathe 				[ to be confirmed ]
Editor in Chief of the UNESCO Free Software Portal
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/portal_freesoft/index.shtml

Sheldon Rampton
PR Watch Editor Sheldon Rampton is a graduate of Princeton University 
who has a diverse background as newspaper reporter, activist and 
author.
http://www.prwatch.org/

Joost Smiers,
Reader in political science of the arts, at the Centre for Research, 
Utrecht School of the Arts. Is about to publish a book on the impact 
of globalisation on the diversity of artistic cultures world-wide.
http://www.hku.nl/usa/centres/centres-nl/cvo/index.htm

Thorsten Schilling
Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Bonn), an organisation which 
fulfils a critical role in the promotion of a digital public sphere 
in Germany.
http://www.bpb.de/

Ryan Schoelerman,
Ex-CIA operative.

Felix Stalder,
Economist and media researcher, co-founder of Open Flows, a network 
of people who create platforms and projects that adhere to the notion 
of open source intelligence
http://www.openflows.org/

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Conference Editors:

Konrad Becker, Public Netbase, Vienna
Eric Kluitenberg, De Balie, Amsterdam
Felix Stalder, Open Flows, Zürich / Toronto

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About World-Information.Org:

World-Information.Org is an exhibition and a cultural research 
project around observation and control in the network society, and 
the culture of new technology. The exhibition is on show at the Oude 
Kerk in Amsterdam until December 15th, 2002.

Visit the extensive web sites of World-Information.Org
http://www.world-information.org

__________________________________

Tickets and Reservations:

Ticket price conference:  E 15,-  with reduction E 12,50  / Day 
tickets: E 10,-  with reduction: E 7,50
Opening hours ticket office: during working days13.00-18.00 hrs or 
till the start of the program.
In the weekend 1,5 hrs before program starts.
Reservations by phone: +31.20 55 35 100 during opening hours till 45 
minutes before the start of the program.

De Balie / Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10 / 1017 RR / Amsterdam
http:///www.balie.nl