Special issue on ‘Australian internet policy’
Call for papers of the Internet Policy Review
supported by the Swinburne Institute for Social Research and .au Domain Administration (auDA)
TOPIC & RELEVANCE
Australia is a country in which there have been various interesting developments in internet policy over the last decade. The ambitious government-led National Broadband Network gained international attention in internet policy circles, although its actual trajectory has proved different from initial plans. While in many ways internet access and use in Australia’s large cities is similar to that experienced by European users, it is also a vast country with many rural and remote populations, for whom the internet is more difficult to access and use. Australia has also not been immune from international trends regarding internet policy, such as an increased emphasis of intellectual property enforcement in the online space, the clash between individual privacy and counter-terrorism measures and the disruption brought to various economic sectors by apps such as Uber. Furthermore, Australia itself is one nation participating in international trade negotiations which are likely to have an effect on internet policy globally, including the recently-signed Trans Pacific Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement which is still being discussed.
SCOPE OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE
The aim of the special issue in the Internet Policy Review is to explore these recent developments in Australian internet policy and how they relate to internet policy developments internationally. Australia is in many ways a country similar to European states, but also with many differences: both the similarities and differences can be seen playing out in the internet policy field.
Accordingly, we welcome proposals that address policy developments and debates so long as they relate to the governance of the Australian internet in some way, or Australian internet policy in regional or international fora. Comparative analyses, especially with European societies and jurisdictions, are particularly welcome (but such comparison is not necessary for inclusion in the special edition). Papers can have both a theoretical or empirical focus, and if empirical can be qualitative, quantitative or employing mixed methods. This call for papers is open to researchers from the fields of policy studies, sociology, law, philosophy, data, information and technology studies, economics and management and, related fields.
FOCUS OF THE PAPERS
We are particularly interested to receive proposals on the following themes in Australian internet policy:
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Intellectual property and the internet: definition, enforcement, consequences
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The internet economy: emerging markets; Uberisation and disruption
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The National Broadband Network; net neutrality
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Data retention, surveillance and privacy
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Internet governance; domain name policy
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The interaction of trade and internet policy: TPP; TiSA
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Australia’s internet policy regionally/internationally: intersections with development, migration and security policy
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Digital inclusion: providing internet access to all Australians
BEST PAPER AWARD
A best paper award will be issued to the paper accepted for publication that the editorial team judges as being of the highest quality and provoking the most interesting arguments.
SPECIAL EDITION EDITORS
- Dr Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology/Swinburne Institute for Social Research (acdaly@swin.edu.au)
- Professor Julian Thomas, Swinburne Institute for Social Research (jthomas@swin.edu.au)
IMPORTANT DATES
14 March 2016: Deadline for expression of interest and abstract submissions (500 word abstracts).
4 April 2016: Authors informed of decision on abstracts
2 June 2016: Deadline for full text submissions (max. 30,000 characters spaces included). All details on text submissions can be found under: http://policyreview.info/authors
October 2016: Publication of the special issue
SUBMIT
ABOUT
The Internet Policy Review was established in 2013 as the first online peer-reviewed journal on internet regulation in Europe. It aims to be a resource on internet policy for academics, civil society advocates, entrepreneurs, the media and policymakers alike. It is published on a rolling quarterly basis by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin. The managing board consists of Dr Mélanie Dulong de Rosnay (ISCC/CNRS, Paris), Professor Natali Helberger (IViR, Amsterdam), Professor Jeanette Hofmann (Berlin Social Science Center WZB), Professor Martin Kretschmer (CREATe, Glasgow) and Professor Wolfgang Schulz (Hans Bredow Institute, Hamburg).
