In the twelve years since the publication of the paper “Law and Borders – The Rise of Law in Cyberspace” by David G. Post and David Johnson, law makers and courts in the US and EU have had to address numerous new questions arising from new information technologies and online activities. What have we learned applying existing legal principles to new Internet phenomena? What new principles have been established and what new concepts underlie these principles? What role will new regulatory models and regimes play in the future.

The Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF) [http://ttlf.stanford.edu] and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) [http://fsi.stanford.edu] will host the first Transatlantic Information Law Symposium on June 14, 2008 at Stanford Law School. The goal of the symposium is to bring together the leading experts from the US and EU to discuss current issues in information law and to promote mutual understanding of the different approaches.

The symposium will address the following topics:

Constitutional Rights and IT in the EU

The Right to Privacy in IT Systems in EU Law

The Right to Privacy in IT Systems in US Law

Freedom of Speech and the Internet in US Law

Network Neutrality in US Law

Property vs. Contract to Govern Online Behavior under US Law

Property vs. Contract to Govern Online Behavior under EU Law

The Future of Regulating Cyberspace - Open Discussion

This event is free and open to the public. For more information and registration, please click here.

Praised by international organizations, Slovenia and Estonia constitute the most successful post-communist economies. These two states are likewise success stories when it comes to democratic consolidation and state-building. Slovenia has opted for gradual market reforms guided by social justice while Estonia quickly reformed its Soviet economy into one of the most liberal in the world. Still, I argue that their roots of success coincide. Crucial opportunities of civil initiatives were never repressed in Slovenia and Estonia during the Communist period as in several other Yugoslav and Soviet republics. Distinct national identities continued to form and re-form during these decades and became deliberated rather than repressed, later strengthening reform capacities in decisive areas. In Estonia, national identities were further emphasized by ethically dubious processes that locked large Russian-speaking minorities out of citizenship.

Li Bennich-Björkman is Johan Skytte professor in political science at University of Uppsala, Sweden. She has published on the organisation of creativity, Organising Innovative Research, (Elsevier/Pergamon Press, 1997), on educational policies, integration and political culture. A dominant theme in her present research on Eastern Europe and post-Soviet States has been how historical and cultural legacies relate to the divergent post-communist trajectories. A particular focus has been on the three Baltic States. Within this framework, Ukraine has been included. Recent research activities have concerned the impact of the European Union on elite values and political culture in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania. Her latest publication is a monograph published with Palgrave/Macmillan, Political Culture under Institutional Pressure. How Institutions Transform Early Socialization, (2007), dealing mainly with the Estonian Diaspora. Articles have appeared in the Journal of Baltic Studies (2006), East European Politics and Societies (2007) and Nationalities Papers (2007) as well as Higher Education Quarterly (2007). Comparative state-building in Estonia and Latvia was addressed in a recently published volume on Building Democracy East of the Elbe (Routledge/Sage:2006).

As President 1999-2007, Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been instrumental in achieving Latvia's membership in the European Union and NATO. She is active in international politics, was named Special Envoy to the Secretary General on United Nations reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006.

Born 1937 in Riga, Latvia, Vaira Vike and her family fled the country in 1945 to escape the Soviet occupation and became refugees in Germany and Morocco. After arriving in Canada in 1954, she obtained a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1965 from McGill University in Montreal. She speaks Latvian, English, French, German and Spanish.

Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been Professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, president of various Canadian professional and scholarly associations, incl. Académie I of the Royal Society of Canada, Vice-Chairman, Science Council of Canada, Chair, Human Factors Panel, NATO Science Program. She is member of the Council of Women World Leaders.

She has published ten books and numerous articles, essays and book chapters in addition to her extensive speaking engagements. Dr. Vike-Freiberga has received many highest Orders of Merit, medals and awards including the 2005 Hannah Arendt Prize for political thought for her advocacy of social issues, moral values, European historical dialogue and democracy, and the 2006 Walter-Hallstein Prize for discourse on the identity and future of the EU.

Since July 1960, Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been married to Imants Freibergs, Professor of Informatics at the University of Quebec in Montreal and since 2001 President of the Latvian Information and Communication Technologies Association.

This seminar is jointly sponsored by the Forum on Contemporary Europe and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.