Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
Encyclopedia
The Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre is one of the research
and social justice
centres at the University of New South Wales
Faculty of Law in Sydney
, Australia
.
It provides a focus for research, public interest advocacy and education
on issues of law and policy arising from digital transactions in cyberspace
.
and freedom of information
in digital records, cloud computing
and Web 2.0
issues, content regulation and the interests of young people, e-commerce, provision of government services by Internet
, online financial services, Public Key Infrastructure
(PKI) and the use of encryption
, Internet governance
, intellectual property
in digital artefacts, and decision-making technologies in public administration
.
, the fastest growing part of cyberspace's 'terrestrial footprint'. There is also increasing interest in jurisdictional and other issues created by personal and other data stored outside a person's home country in "the cloud".
, an international law firm. (In recognition of generous startup support provided by the firm in its first years, the original name was the Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre. In 2005, with the advent of substantial Australian Research Council
research project funding made possible during that startup phase, the firm's relationship to the Centre changed and the Centre's name was shortened.)
The Centre has also increasingly collaborated with lawyer
s and legal research
ers in a range of other firms and organisations, including as Research Associates.
and censorship
proposals developed by recent Australian governments. It generated materials from workshops in 2008 and 2009, and an extensive references list covering those years. It involves collaboration with the UNSW Journalism and Media Research Centre, and a range of industry and community partners.
As well as:
the project and its participants also:
.
As well as a number of events, such as the symposium: International perspectives on privacy regulation: Privacy Principles in Asia Pacific economies compared at UNSW on 3–4 March 2010, numerous publications and submissions such as those to the 2008 ALRC review of privacy law in Australia, the project also supported the Asia Pacific Privacy Charter, work on the APEC Privacy Framework, and the proposed but abandoned national ID card system known as the Access Card
.
and ANU
. The Centre developed and hosts the project's online and offline resources, including a "Selected References" list. Despite the encouragement for individual investors to go online and trade securities, when the project started there had been limited research into the regulatory implications of the non-advisory context of their decision making. Further, outside the United States
, there were no significant treatments of the regulation of online investing generally. This Australian Research Council funded project addresses these deficiencies, particularly in relation to Australian online investing.
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
centres at the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
Faculty of Law in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
It provides a focus for research, public interest advocacy and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
on issues of law and policy arising from digital transactions in cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
.
Areas of interest
The Centre's work deals with subjects like privacyPrivacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
and freedom of information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
in digital records, cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
and Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
issues, content regulation and the interests of young people, e-commerce, provision of government services by Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, online financial services, Public Key Infrastructure
Public key infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. In cryptography, a PKI is an arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate...
(PKI) and the use of encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
, Internet governance
Internet governance
Internet governance is the development and application of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet...
, intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
in digital artefacts, and decision-making technologies in public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
.
Geographic focus
Much of the Centre's work concerns Australian law and policy, but there is also a focus on the development of cyberspace regulation in AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, the fastest growing part of cyberspace's 'terrestrial footprint'. There is also increasing interest in jurisdictional and other issues created by personal and other data stored outside a person's home country in "the cloud".
Support from the Profession
The Centre's founding sponsors were the local and global partners of Baker & McKenzieBaker & McKenzie
Baker & McKenzie is an international law firm, founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker and John McKenzie. It is home to more than 3,800 lawyers spread over 70 offices in 42 different countries....
, an international law firm. (In recognition of generous startup support provided by the firm in its first years, the original name was the Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre. In 2005, with the advent of substantial Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
research project funding made possible during that startup phase, the firm's relationship to the Centre changed and the Centre's name was shortened.)
The Centre has also increasingly collaborated with lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s and legal research
Legal research
Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...
ers in a range of other firms and organisations, including as Research Associates.
Internships and visitors
The Centre enables experienced external researchers to visit, and law and other students to do internships or volunteer.Net Filtering & Young People
This research project looks at Internet filteringContent-control software
Content-control software, also known as censorware or web filtering software, is a term for software designed and optimized for controlling what content is permitted to a reader, especially when it is used to restrict material delivered over the Web...
and censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
proposals developed by recent Australian governments. It generated materials from workshops in 2008 and 2009, and an extensive references list covering those years. It involves collaboration with the UNSW Journalism and Media Research Centre, and a range of industry and community partners.
Unlocking IP
Unlocking IP: New models for sharing and trading IP: "Unlocking IP" is a research project supported by a 2005-2009 ARC Linkage grant to a consortium led by UNSW's Prof Graham Greenleaf, contributions from industry partners, and hosted by the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre.As well as:
- a library of publiations,
- events such as Unlocking IP conferences in
- 2004,
- 2006,
- 2009,
the project and its participants also:
- hosted the House of Commons Blog,
- co-hosted the launch of the Creative CommonsCreative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
licence Australian version, and the Free for Education open content licences, - supported the work of several PhD candidates, including a development of tools to survey the extent of open content licences used online, and
- saw a number of spin-off projects, including work:
- for Consumers InternationalConsumers InternationalConsumers International is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers...
on the 2006 Copyright Act amendments legalising format-shifting (eg, iPodIPodiPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
) and time-shifting (eg, TiVoTiVoTiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
) in Australia, and - for the Copyright Agency LtdCopyright Agency LtdCopyright Agency Ltd is an Australian company incorporated under the Corporations Code for the purpose of providing institutions, especially educational institutions the use of copyright material, in print or electronic form....
, on Orphan Works.
- for Consumers International
Interpreting Privacy Principles
"Interpreting Privacy Principles" was a research project led by UNSW's Prof Graham Greenleaf subtitled "Creating more consistent privacy principles through better interpretation and law reform: an Australasian initiative to resolve an international problem - comparative research into privacy principles." It was supported by an ARC Discovery grant 2006-2009 to a research team based at the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, UNSW Faculty of LawUNSW Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law of the University of New South Wales is a law school situated in Sydney, Australia. The Faculty is one of the most innovative and prestigious law schools in Australia....
.
As well as a number of events, such as the symposium: International perspectives on privacy regulation: Privacy Principles in Asia Pacific economies compared at UNSW on 3–4 March 2010, numerous publications and submissions such as those to the 2008 ALRC review of privacy law in Australia, the project also supported the Asia Pacific Privacy Charter, work on the APEC Privacy Framework, and the proposed but abandoned national ID card system known as the Access Card
Health and social services access card (Australia)
The health and social services access card is a proposed Australian Government non-compulsory health and social services access card. John Howard, the then Australian Prime Minister announced its introduction on Wednesday 26 April 2006...
.
Regulating Online Investing
"One Day, We’ll All Invest This Way! Regulating Online Investing" is an ARC Discovery research project led by Professor Dimity Kingsford Smith from UNSW, with collaborators from MonashMonash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
and ANU
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. The Centre developed and hosts the project's online and offline resources, including a "Selected References" list. Despite the encouragement for individual investors to go online and trade securities, when the project started there had been limited research into the regulatory implications of the non-advisory context of their decision making. Further, outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, there were no significant treatments of the regulation of online investing generally. This Australian Research Council funded project addresses these deficiencies, particularly in relation to Australian online investing.