Dear all,

Please note that until 15 September it will be possible to submit a proposal for the 1sr Report of the IGF Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality (see: Call for Papers, below).  

Also, please note that the meeting of the DC has been scheduled on 25 October 2013, from 9:00 to 10:30, in room #7.

The Report will be published online and distribited at the DC meeting.

Please, do not hesitate to contact me (privately) should you have any questions.

Best regards,

Luca 

Luca Belli

Doctorant en Droit Public

CERSA,Université Panthéon-Assas

Sorbonne University

Background

“Network Neutrality” is an appealing and multifaceted expression which encompasses several 

areas and may give rise to misinterpretations. At its core, the notion of network-neutrality 

determines the extent to which Internet traffic management practices (TMP) may be regarded as 

legitimate, insofar as they do not qualify as discriminatory practices and they are consistent with 

the full enjoyment of human-rights. Yet, throughout the last decade, this polysemous formula has 

acquired different meanings, invading the province of telecommunications, content and security 

regulation. 

The Network Neutrality debate is gaining great political momentum. Indeed, many legislators are 

currently scrutinizing the opportunity of elaborating and adopting legislation on network 

neutrality. While everyone agrees that the fundamental rights of Internet users have to be 

safeguarded, the question remains as to how this end could be achieved, and what are the most 

effective means to achieve such an objective.

Call

The Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality, created under the auspices of the United Nations 

Internet Governance Forum, invites researchers and practitioners to submit a position paper on 

the issue of net neutrality and human rights. Position papers should provide relevant background 

information together with one or more propositions on how to preserve fundamental human 

rights (such as the right to privacy or freedom of expression) on the Internet of tomorrow. 

Suggested topics include, inter alia:

Implementation of the Network Neutrality principle:

• How to approach network neutrality? Regulation or co-regulation? 

• Is fair competition a sufficient safeguard for fundamental rights?

• Can current examples of network-neutrality legislation be deemed as efficient?

• Is there a difference between “open Internet” and “neutral Internet”? 

Impact of Network Neutrality on human rights:

• Analysis of network neutrality case-law: Current violations of the Net Neutrality principle and 

their impact on human rights

• How to reconcile anti-network neutrality arguments with the protection of human rights ?

• From gateways to gatekeepers: assessing the role of ISPs with regard to access to information.

• Net Neutrality and global access to the Internet: a “digital divide” issue

• Digital democracy: the impact of network neutrality regulation on civic participation 

• Benefits and risks of Deep Packet Inspection as an Internet traffic management technique 

Submission Guidelines:

Research papers, including analytical and theoretical papers, position papers, or case studies will 

be considered for inclusion in the report, even if they have been previously published.

The length of the submissions should be between 3000 and 6000 words. To facilitate the reviewing 

process, papers should not include author names or other information that would help identify 

the authors.

All paper should be in English language, and formatted according to the HWPiL style template.

Submissions are due on September 15th, 2013. They should include the following elements:

- Title

- Short abstract (250 words)

- Original contribution

- Author’s name, affiliation and short bibliographical note (in the body of the email).

Submissions should be sent to contact@networkneutrality.info

Authors will be notified within approximately two weeks from the deadline as to the status of 

their contributions.

All submitted papers will be subject to a rigorous double-blind peer review, whereby each paper 

will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Everyone who submitted a paper will be asked to peer 

review another submission, which will be judged according to the novelty of the contribution, 

the theoretical soundness and the quality of presentation.

Authors will be given the opportunity to improve their contributions based on peer comments.

Selected papers will be published into the Dynamic Coalition report, which will be published 

under Open Access conditions. All authors must ensure that their contribution can be licensed 

under one of the Creative Commons licenses of their choice.

Some of the authors will also be invited (at their own expenses) to present their work at the first 

DC meeting to be held at the United Nation Internet Governance Forum 2013 in Bali.