Dear Friends, The Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC) is happy to welcome 6 new participants from across the world! The joining Centers are described below. Please visit the links to get further information on their current research, areas of interest, and on the contact persons. The full list of the Centers involved in the NoC -currently 51- is available at http://networkofcenters.net/centers. -- The following Centers have joined the NoC as *Participating Centers*, i.e., academic research centers whose agenda is primarily focused on Internet & Society topics. They are listed in alphabetical order. * *Center for Global Communications Studies at Pennsylvania University *[United States] o Webpage: http://www.global.asc.upenn.edu/ o Twitter: @AnnenbergCGCS o The Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) is a leader in international education and training in comparative media law and policy. It affords students, academics, lawyers, regulators, civil society representatives and others the opportunity to evaluate and discuss comparative international communications issues. Working with the Annenberg School for Communication (University of Pennsylvania) and research centers, scholars and practitioners from around the world, CGCS produces original research and reports, provides opportunities for graduate students, organizes conferences and trainings, and provides consulting and advisory assistance to academic centers, governments, and NGOs. CGCS draws on various disciplines, including law, political science, and international relations, among others. The Center’s research and policy work addresses issues of media regulation, internet policy, media and democracy, monitoring and evaluation of media development programs, public service broadcasting, and the media’s role in conflict and post-conflict environments. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Laura Schwartz-Henderson* (Research Project Manager) and *Monroe E. Price*, director of the Center. * *Centre for Information Technology Law Studies (CEDI), University of Chile’s Law School *[Chile] o Webpage: http://www.derecho.uchile.cl/centro-de-estudios-en-derecho-informatico/prese... o The Centre for Information Technology Law Studies (CEDI) is one of the oldest scientific research centers in Latin America, in matters relating to Law and Technologies, and one of the pioneer centers at Universidad de Chile. The mission of CEDI is to reflect from a scientific standpoint, pluralistic and interdisciplinary, about the interaction existing among the law and law principles, and the new technologies, in order to understand the consequences to the law of the technologic revolution, and to propose improvements in the manner in which the Law can participate in the technological evolution within our society. In 2008, the Centre for Studies in Computer Law diversifies its offer in graduate programs, opening the Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property and New Technologies. In this scenario, the LLM program is renamed and reformulated by the year 2012, becoming the LLM in Law and New Technologies. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Alex Pessó Stoulman*, Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator at CEDI (http://web.derecho.uchile.cl/pregrado/2013_1/curri_d.php?recordID=677). * *Center for Law & Technology of Seoul National University* [South Korea] o Webpage: http://clt.re.kr/eng/index.php o The Center for Law & Technology of Seoul National University (“SNU CLT”) was founded in March 2003. Since then, the SNU CLT has been actively engaged in researches, seminars, education in the field of law and information technology. Especially, the SNU CLT has hosted its own Annual Hawaii Conference dealing with intellectual property, privacy, security, competition, internet regulation and other internet issues. The SNU CLT has also been actively involved in training and educating master degree students coming from Asia, Middle East and Africa. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Sang Jo Jong*, Professor of Law at Seoul National University (see http://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/11362/Jong). * *Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) at Universidad de Palermo* [Argentina] o Webpage: http://www.palermo.edu/cele/cele/english/index.html o Adhering to their traditional focus on the protection of free speech and access to information, and in response to the emergence of the Internet as a universal tool for communication, CELE launched the “Freedom of Expression and Internet Initiative” (iLEI) in 2012. This materialized from CELE’s research on freedom of expression in relation to the Internet in Latin America. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, CELE organised training activities for policymakers and activists from Latin America. These meetings provided participants with a better understanding of some of the key aspects of the Internet that impact human rights. Participants included journalists, legal consultants, public officials, academics, and activists. The training, which was led by experts in freedom of expression, Internet, and human rights, covered themes such as net neutrality, responsibility of intermediaries, policies that block or filter content, due process, and cybercrime. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Eduardo Bertoni*, director at CELE, and professor of human rights & Internet and criminal law (see http://www.palermo.edu/cele/english/staff.html). -- The following Centers have joined the NoC as *Affiliated Participants*, i.e., other types of institutions, still with Internet & Society-related open threads, carried out, e.g., as non-academic research centers, policy-support entities, or think tanks. They are listed in alphabetical order. * *Syntagma* [Spain] o Webpage: http://www.syntagma.org/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChathamHouse o Syntagma.org is a private and independent think-tank specializing in Internet-ICT, legal and good governance issues. Its main activities include research and publication, training and education, consultancy and legal counseling and dissemination of ideas through seminars and other awareness-raising events. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Pablo García Mexía*, Professor of Internet Law and Government at Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, and at the William and Mary Law School (http://law2.wm.edu/faculty/bios/visiting/pgarciamexia.php) Again, a warm welcome to all new participants in the Network of Centers! -- *About the Network of Internet and Society Research Centers* The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC) was launched by a group of academic centers in 2012 in recognition of the lack of internationally coordinated research and engagement activities in issues concerning the Internet and related technologies. The NoC is a collaborative initiative among academic institutions with a focus on interdisciplinary research on the development, social impact, policy implications, and legal issues concerning the Internet. This collective aims to increase interoperability between participating centers in order to stimulate the creation of new cross-national, cross-disciplinary conversation, debate, teaching, learning, and engagement regarding the most pressing questions around new technologies, social change, and related policy and regulatory developments. See http://networkofcenters.net/get-involved/. -- Raimondo Iemma Managing Director & Research Fellow Nexa Center for Internet and Society http://nexa.polito.it/ Project Manager Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers http://networkofcenters.net/
