[governance] Registration open for "Consumers in the Information Society: Access, Fairness and Representation", 8-9 March 2012

[Jeremy Malcolm]

Consumers in the digital age confront a range of issues that are quite
new to the consumer movement.  Is it fair for consumers to receive fewer
rights over digital works such as ebooks than over paper books?  What
can be done about misleading claims as to the speed of broadband
Internet connections?  Can online services require you to "sign away"
your privacy and other rights as a consumer?  Who are the
decision-makers in the information society, and are they listening to
consumers?

On 8-9 March 2012, CI will be hosting a two-day conference on these and
other issues for the digital age, titled "Consumers in the Information
Society: Access, Fairness and Representation".  CI members from around
the world, and experts from as far afield as the United States,
Switzerland and Singapore, will come together to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
to report back on their research and campaigning activities as part of
CI's global consumer network on access to knowledge, broadband, and
consumer rights and representation in the information society.

Presentations and panels at the conference will cover topics such as:

  * How the consumer movement can fight back against the insidious abuse
    of intellectual property rights by some large businesses, who use
    technology and "fine print" in consumer contracts to limit fair uses
    of cultural and educational materials that copyright law would
    otherwise allow.
  * Mapping the landscape of governance in the information society, to
    reveal where consumers are poorly represented in the institutions
    that wield power online, and to suggest how we can be given a louder
    voice in guiding these institutions to take account of our needs.
  * An ambitious campaign to firmly reestablish a progressive agenda for
    today's connected consumers, through amendments on access to
    knowledge that we have proposed for the United Nations Guidelines
    for Consumer Protection.
  * Insights from a large-scale global survey of consumers on their
    experiences in accessing and using the Internet over broadband
    networks, which will reveal the need for leadership from the
    consumer movement to raise standards of protection for consumer
    rights online.

Registration for this major event is now open at
http://A2Knetwork.org/registration-infosoc2012. Consumers International
members may even be eligible for assistance with travel and
accommodation expenses.  Please visit the event's website at
http://A2Knetwork.org/infosoc2012 to learn more.

-- 

*Dr Jeremy Malcolm
Project Coordinator*
Consumers International
Kuala Lumpur Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 7726 1599

*The global voice for consumers*: www.consumersinternational.org
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