Please redistribute widely
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The Sixth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy will take
place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on March 27-30,
1996. CFP96 is hosted by MIT and by the World Wide Web Consortium.
You can register for CFP96 by US Mail, by fax, or via the World Wide
Web.
Conference attendance will be limited. Due to the enormous public
interest in CFP issues over the past year, we encourage you to
register early.
Students: We regret to announce that the 100 registration slots we
reserved at the special student rate have all been filled as of
January 31. All further registrations will be at the regular rate.
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For more information, see the CFP96 Web page at http://www.mit.edu/cfp96 or send a blank email message to cfp96-info@mit.edu
Since its inception in 1991, the series of CFP conferences has brought together experts and advocates from the fields of computer science, law, business, public policy, law enforcement, government, and many other areas to explore how computer and telecommunications technologies are affecting freedom and privacy. Events planned for this year's conference include: - An exploration of the struggle over the control over controversial material on the global network. This will examine the feasibility of technological solutions for controlling access to content, and question whether the assertion of domestic sovereignty over parts of the global network is even possible - A moot Supreme Court hearing to determine the constitutionality of a proposed US law to prohibit the use of encryption in data communications, unless the decryption keys are escrowed to ensure government access to them. - A look at the emerging technology of digital cash and the possibility of anonymous electronic payments over the Internet, emphasizing the challenges both to privacy and to law-enforcement. - An examination of whether computer-mediated communication, with its many-to-many nature, might make become an effective counterpoint to traditional mass media in influencing public policy. - Queries into the interrelationship between copyright and free expression: Will copyright law be an enabler of freedom of expression in digital networked environments or will it be an impediment to free speech? - A discussion of international developments in cryptography policy and regulation and what multinational companies are doing to meet their encryption needs. - A look at the impact of the explosive spread of the internet in China and throughout Asia. Can a society have competitive economic development without permitting the freedom of expression and access made possible by new information technologies? What are some of the likely social impacts of the internet on China and of the Chinese internet on the outside world? - Demonstrations of the latest information technology affecting freedom and privacy, and tutorials on technical and legal issues.