Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2007: Call for proposals for May 1-4 conference [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Disclaimer: I have the pleasure of being on the CFP program committee 
this year. Proposals for panels, etc. are due January 31, 2007 (I'm 
hoping to see some good ones on data retention). Hope to see many of you 
in Montreal in May. --Declan]



http://www.cfp2007.org/live/proposals.html

The Program Committee of the Seventeenth Conference on Computers, 
Freedom, and Privacy (CFP2007) seeks your proposals for innovative 
conference sessions and speakers.

The Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference has been a leading venue for 
public debate on the future of computing, privacy and freedom in the 
online world for the past 16 years. Each year, key representatives from 
government, business, education, and non-profits, including the legal, 
law enforcement, security, media, consumer, and hacker communities, have 
gathered together to discuss new technologies, anticipate policy trends 
and issues and to help map the future of society. Attendees will meet 
next May 1-4 in Montreal, Canada, to address cutting edge questions and 
issues in computing, freedom and privacy.

This is only the second time that this conference has met in Canada, and 
it is fitting that the theme this year is Autonomy in the 21st century. 
 When the Internet was young, and this conference started out in San 
Francisco where the watchword of a new generation was “the Internet 
wants to be free”, hackers, social activists, scientists and government 
officials faced off over issues like free speech, censorship, 
pornography and cryptography controls.  Now we live in a world where 
expectations of privacy and security appear to have plummeted in some 
parts of our society, and in some parts of the Internet sub-culture. 
Autonomy of the individual is threatened by control of personal 
information and by the shift of control of computing from the owner and 
user to the manufacturer and software developers.  New digital rights 
management schemes appear, constantly eroding the rights and autonomy of 
the purchaser of content.  Autonomy of groups is threatened by 
increasing surveillance of all society, but especially the vulnerable. 
Autonomy of countries and democracies is threatened by international 
agencies which set standards and are less accountable to democratic 
governments and the citizens, on issues from aviation control to 
cybercrime and product safety.

Who is making the real decisions?
What oversight is there?
How can the average individual stay empowered in this digital age?
How can transparency, open government, and democracy itself survive in 
the fearful global environment that we live in?

Proposals are welcomed on all aspects of computers, freedom, and 
privacy. We strongly encourage proposals that explore some of the most 
important issues affecting autonomy of the individual, of groups, and of 
countries.  We are looking at issues facing the Internet and freedom, 
including: global activism; technology and monopoly; individuals and 
ubiquitous computing; technology and weapons; ICANN and Internet 
governance; borders and censorship; the digital divide and the 
disenfranchisement of vulnerable populations; biometric systems; 
consumer privacy; wireless privacy and security; hacktivism; 
intellectual property and intellectual freedom; digital rights 
management and privacy; public records and private lives.

We are seeking proposals for tutorials, plenary sessions, workshops, 
technical demonstrations, parallel sessions and birds-of-a-feather 
sessions. We are also seeking suggestions for speakers and topics. The 
conference runs from Tuesday, May 1, to Friday, May 4, and permits a 
range of format and time slots, which the program committee will juggle 
once we have your input.  Panel sessions should present a wide range of 
thinking on a topic by including speakers from different viewpoints. 
Complete submission instructions appear on the CFP2007 web site at 
http://www.cfp2007.org/submissions/.

All submissions must be received by January 20, 2007. Proposals will be 
reviewed by the CFP2007 Program Committee. The Program Committee will 
notify submitters of the status of proposals no later than February 10th.

Submission Guidelines

General:
All submissions must be made using the CFP2007 electronic submission 
system. After filling out your contact information and other basic 
information, you may e-mail the body (in plain text) of your submission 
to us if you prefer at submissions () cfp2007 org. You will receive 
instructions about where to mail the body of your submission after you 
fill out the basic information on the submission form.

Submitters' contact information will be used only to contact them about 
their submissions and to send them information about the CFP conference.

Session, tutorial, and workshop submissions must be received by November 
30, 2006.  BOF submissions may be right up to the date of the 
conference, but rooms will be available on a first-come, first-serve 
basis.  We encourage late interventions that deal with breaking stories 
and events, and will try to accommodate them on the program

If you have an idea for a session or other activity but do not have a 
complete session proposal, please use the "topic or activity" suggestion 
form. If you would like to nominate a speaker, please use the "speaker" 
suggestion form. The Program Committee will give preference to complete 
session proposals, but will also consider these suggestions as well. We 
are particularly interested in suggestions for keynote speakers.

When providing information about proposed presenters, please do not 
submit each presenter's entire resume! Just provide a few relevant details.

The Program Committee may accept parts of submissions without accepting 
the entire submission. For example, the Program Committee might combine 
multiple proposals, take a session topic but fill it in with different 
speakers, or take a proposal submitted as a plenary session and turn it 
into a workshop.

CFP generally does not provide speaker honoraria. We will waive the 
conference registration fees for speakers from academic, non-profit, and 
government institutions (except for BOFs). In addition, travel funding 
may be available for some speakers on a case-by-case basis.

Plenary/Panel sessions:
Plenary sessions are sessions held in the main ballroom, which are 
attended by all the conference participants (about 500 people). They may 
take the form of a panel discussion or debate, but we encourage other 
formats, including talk shows, games, moot courts, role plays, and other 
creative ideas. Plenary sessions are 1 to 2 hours, and should include at 
least 20 minutes for audience questions and discussion. When they take 
the form of a panel discussion, we recommend that the panel include no 
more than 3 to 5 participants (including a moderator).

Plenary sessions should be organized by the submitter (with help from 
the Program Committee). The submitter may be one of the presenters, but 
that is not required. We prefer submissions in which all the proposed 
presenters have been confirmed by the submitter. However, we will also 
consider submissions in which not all the speakers are confirmed, 
especially if you list alternative speakers in case your top choices are 
not available. You might also list a type of person rather than name 
specific people (for example, an academic intellectual property lawyer, 
or a musician who distributes music on the Internet for free). However, 
it is helpful if you can list some possible names, so that the Program 
Committee has some confidence that you will be able to find the kind of 
people you describe.

Plenary and panel sessions are identical except that that panel sessions 
will run concurrently whereas plenary sessions will be for the entire 
conference.

[Example Plenary/Panel session submission]

If you have an idea for a plenary session but are not proposing to 
organize it, please submit it as a "topic or activity suggestion."

See CFP 2006, Federal Privacy Legislation
11:15-12:30 (plenary session) and Concurrent Panel Sessions 1:00-2:00.

http://www.cfp2006.org/progwed.html

Tutorials:
We are particularly interested in half-day tutorials (3 hours, including 
break) that provide a crash course in a topic of interest to CFP 
audiences. For example, tutorials on cyberspace law for non-lawyers and 
encryption for non-technical people have been popular in the past. We 
will also consider 1-1/2 hour tutorials and full-day tutorials.

Tutorials may be presented by a single presenter or a team of 
presenters. Tutorials should be submitted by one of the proposed 
presenters. If you have an idea for a tutorial but are not proposing to 
present it, please submit it as a "topic or activity suggestion."

submissions closed

Workshops:
Workshops sessions are sessions held in parallel, with 30 to 200 
conference attendees expected to attend each session. Workshop 
submissions may include similar content to plenary sessions; however, we 
are particularly interested in workshop submissions that take advantage 
of having a smaller audience and promote audience interaction. In 
addition to the formats suggested for plenary sessions, workshops might 
take the form of a town hall meeting or a single speaker and audience 
discussion. Workshops might also be proposed in which the participants 
are broken up into small groups for brainstorming or discussion and then 
the groups are brought back together.

Workshops should be organized by the submitter (with help from the 
Program Committee). The submitter may be one of the presenters, but that 
is not required. We prefer submissions in which all the proposed 
presenters have been confirmed by the submitter. However, we will also 
consider submissions in which not all the speakers are confirmed, 
especially if you list alternative speakers in case your top choices are 
not available. You might also list a type of person rather than name 
specific people (for example, an academic intellectual property lawyer, 
or a musician who distributes music on the Internet for free). However, 
it is helpful if you can list some possible names, so that the program 
committee has some confidence that you will be able to find the kind of 
people you describe.

If you have an idea for a workshop but are not proposing to organize it, 
please submit it as a "topic or activity suggestion."

[Example workshop session submission]

Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions
BOFs are informal evening sessions, usually attended by anywhere from 10 
to 50 conference participants. They may include presentations, group 
discussions, open meetings of organizations, or informal opportunities 
for people with a common interest to meet each other. BOF submitters 
should be prepared to organize the BOF that they submit.
[Example BOF submission]

See CFP 2004, BOFs Thursday April 22, 10-12 pm"
http://cfp2004.org/program/

Hyde Park Corner Soapbox
Over the years, CFP has been noted for long queues at the question 
microphones, and often questioners have indulged in ranting themselves, 
rather than asking questions.  We have decided to give this activity a 
home this year, by instituting the CFP Hyde Park Corner Microphone.  If 
you have something that has to be said, book your time on the soapbox 
now, to avoid disappointment.  The mike will be open at breakfast, 
breaks and lunchtime.  hydepark () cfp2007 org

If you have further questions about submissions, please e-mail 
submissions () cfp2007 org

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