NEXT-GENERATION INTERNET POLICY WORKSHOP
September 16-17, 1999
European Commission, Brussels
Workshop organizers:
MIT Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium (MIT ITC)
European Commission
Global Internet Project (GIP)
Workshop sponsors:
Global Internet Project (GIP)
Bell Canada
Telecom Italia
Program Committee:
William Lehr, MIT ITC (1-978-287-0709, wlehr@rpcp.mit.edu)
Lorenzo Pupillo, Telecom Italia (39-06-36875580, lorenzo.pupillo@telecomitalia.it)
Denis Henry, Bell Canada (1-819-773-5805, denis.henry@bell.ca)
Michael Nelson, IBM and GIP (1-202-515-5137, mrn@us.ibm.com)
Richard Cawley, European Commission (322-236-8604, Richard.CAWLEY@BXL.DG13.cec.be)
Workshop Theme:
The goal of this workshop is to identify the critical policy issues that
governments and industry will need to address as the Internet emerges as the
platform for telecommunications and electronic commerce. We hope to spur
research on these issues, anticipate the profound changes the Internet will have
on society and commerce, and to promote and inform the policy debate.
The day and a half workshop will be organized into a series of six focused
sessions that will allow senior industry executives, government policy-makers,
and academics to address policy issues affecting the Internet. Each session will
start with a brief presentation by one or two well-known experts who will
introduce and frame the discussion of the topic for that session. The balance of
the session will be devoted to a mediated discussion among the workshop
delegates.
Attendance at the workshop will be by invitation only and will include leading
industry, government and academic decision-makers and researchers from North
America and Europe. The workshop organizers include the MIT ITC and the GIP. The
MIT ITC is a joint industry-academic research consortium that is focusing on the
mix of technical, business, economic, and policy issues that arise as a
consequence of the convergence of the Internet and traditional
telecommunications infrastructure. The GIP is an international consortium of
senior executives committed to spurring the growth of the Internet worldwide.
The event is being hosted by the European Commission, with corporate sponsorship
from Bell Canada and Telecom Italia.
Following the workshop, the organizers will prepare a report of key findings and
will prepare a conference volume, which will be edited by William Lehr (MIT) and
Lorenzo Pupillo (Telecom Italia). Preliminary drafts of the papers and the
rapporteur report will be published on the Web to promote wider access to the
discussion.
Workshop Logistics: The workshop will be hosted by the European Commission at the Borschette Centre, with workshop registration and the opening lunch at the Dorint Hotel and the first night's cocktail reception and dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel (Europa). The hotels and the Borschette Centre are within easy walking distance of each other. Arrangements will be made to access email and to receive messages at both hotels. Workshop participants are expected to make their own hotel reservations. The addresses for the Borschette Centre and the hotels are attached to the agenda.
The agenda for the workshop is as follows:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
| 9:00-12:00 p.m. | REGISTRATION (workshop registration will be at the Dorint Hotel) |
| 12:00-1:45 p.m. | LUNCH (with
Speaker at the Dorint Hotel) The opening luncheon speaker will describe how the Internet will grow and change in the next 3-5 years and identify potential policy problems that could arise when the Internet is 50-100 times faster, two-way video is commonplace, and the number of Internet users is at least 10 times greater than today. Introduction: Michio Naruto Speaker:
|
| 2:15-3:45 p.m. | SESSION #1:
Ensuring Internet infrastructure competition Will the market for broadband Internet service be competitive and unregulated, or are there key bottlenecks and economies of scale that could enable a handful of firms to dominate the broadband marketplace? How will today's telephony regulations affect the growth of the next-generation Internet? How must existing telecom policy institutions and regulations change to assure a competitive telecommunications market? What will be the role for government policy in the next generation Internet? Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 3:45-4:15 p.m. | BREAK |
| 4:15-5:45 p.m. | SESSION #2:
Universal service in the Internet age As the Internet becomes more widespread and more essential for business, government services, and education, pressure will increase on policy makers to ensure ubiquitous, affordable Internet access. How should universal service be redefined in light of the Internet? What subsidies, if any, are required to support universal access and how should these be raised and distributed? Reconciling universal service needs of equitable and ubiquitous access to the Internet with a competitive industry poses an important challenge for infrastructure policy. Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 7:00-8:00 p.m. | COCKTAILS (at the Intercontinental Hotel) |
| 8:00-10:00 p.m. | DINNER (with
speaker at the Intercontinental Hotel) Speaker:
|
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1999 (at Borschette Centre)
| 9:00-10:30 a.m. | SESSION #3: The
collision of the Internet with broadcast law As the speed of the Internet increases, more and more people will be listening to radio and watching television on-line. Will regulators try to impose radio and television regulations on this new media (e.g. advertising restrictions, children's TV programming requirements, content quotas)? Addressing effective regulation to the Internet as a broadcast medium raises numerous challenges for industry and policy-makers. Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 10:30-11:00 a.m. | BREAK |
| 11:00-12:30 p.m | SESSION #4:
Privacy and Societal Impacts The Internet and the growth of E-commerce will have profound and often disruptive impacts on society. Businesses (and the employees who work for them) are worried that new Internet companies pose a serious threat to profitability and job security. In some cases, they may pressure governments to use regulation and trade barriers to slow the spread of the Internet and e-commerce. Individuals are increasingly concerned about the creation of a "surveillance society." For example, digital cameras and Internet connections are getting less expensive and more common. Will the idea of private and public space change? Will the development of "virtual communities" integrate or isolate Internet users? What government and industry institutions and policies are required to assure that privacy rights are respected? Are these compatible with other social goals (e.g., crime protection, free speech, etc.)? Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 12:30-2:00 p.m. | LUNCH (at Borschette Centre) |
| 2:00-3:30 p.m. | SESSION #5:
Enhancing the User Experience Today, many Internet users find it frustrating to use the Internet. It can be unreliable and insecure; there is a huge variety of on-line content, yet useful, reliable information can often be hard to find; and many of the user interfaces are not very user-friendly. How can we make cyberspace a more welcoming, more accessible, and more "human" place? Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 3:30-4:00 p.m. | BREAK |
| 4:00-5:30 p.m. | SESSION #6:
Globalization and Culture Clash Formulating and enforcing sound Internet policies for a global network in a community of sovereign nations will be a difficult challenge. High-speed Internet links and video-conferencing promise to accelerate the growth of a truly global economy and a global culture. How will we realize the economic benefits and yet deal with the inevitable economic dislocations? How can we foster a diversity of content on the Web and defuse concerns about the Internet being a vehicle for the dissemination of American culture? Will the Internet lead to a decrease in national sovereignty and, if so, how will national governments react? Moderator:
Speakers:
|
| 5:30-5:45 | CLOSING REMARKS |
* Invited.
TBA To Be Announced
For latest version of agenda and additional information see: http://rpcp.mit.edu/NGIPolicy
CONTACT INFORMATION
Please feel free to contact Dr. Lehr if you have any questions regarding the
content of the workshop or his administrative assistant, Merrick Berman, for
other information.
Contact information:
Dr William Lehr
tel: 978-287-0709
fax: 978-287-5467
email: wlehr@rpcp.mit.edu
Merrick Berman
tel: 617-253-4138
fax: 617-253-7326
email: lex@rpcp.mit.edu
Both Mr. Berman and Dr. Lehr may be reached at:
Internet Telecoms and Convergence Consortium
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1 Amherst Street (E40-235)
Cambridge, MA 02139
The MIT ITC website is http://itel.mit.edu
and the GIP website is http://www.gip.org.
The main meetings will take place at the European Commission's Borschette
Centre:
Centre A. Borschette (CCAB)
rue Froissart 36
B-1000 Bruxelles
The workshop will be held at two hotels in Brussels, the Hotel
Intercontinental (Europa) and Dorint Hotel. Both hotels are within easy walking
distance of the Borschette Centre.
Workshop participants are expected to make their own hotel reservations.
Reservations may be done either by fax or e-mail, quoting the meeting title
"Global Internet Project - MIT Workshop".
A block of rooms have been reserved at both hotels, but because Brussels is very
busy in mid-September, please make reservations as soon as possible.
DORINT Hotel Brussels
Boulevard Charlemagne 11-19
B-1000 Brussels (Belgium)
Tel. 32 2 231 09 09
Fax. 32 2 230 33 71
Rates :
Standard room : 5600 BEF + breakfast of 750 BEF (normal rate is 9600 BEF + bkfst)
Club rooms : 7950 BEF + breakfast of 750 BEF (normal rate is 10600 BEF + bkfst)
The club room offers the following benefits: free parking, the latest cocktail
creation in the bar "The News", daily newspaper, bathrobe, tea &
coffee making
facilities, seasonal gift and mineral water in the room.
Fax number for reservations : 32 2 285 41 78 / e-mail : Resa@Dorintbru.be
Info to be found on web site : http://www.ibase.be/Dorint
Hotel Intercontinental (Europa)
Rue de la Loi 107
B-1040 Brussels (Belgium)
Tel: 32 2 230 13 33
Fax: 32 2 280 09 67
Rates:
Standard room : 3950 BEF + breakfast of 750 BEF (instead of 9500 BEF +
breakfast)
Executive room : 5150 BEF + breakfast of 750 BEF
For reservations:
Fax: 32 2 230 03 26
or e-mail: anne_dumolard@interconti.com
Info: http://www.interconti.com