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My contribution will discuss the role that engaged academics played in advocating, creating and participating in the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It will critically analyze the role of scholars in organized civil society during the World Summit on ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the literature on networks and network organizations in political science. It argues that three very distinct things have become conflated and confused in much of the literature: 1) mathematical techniques for network analys ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phishing is a form of Internet-based crime that involves using email and web sites to trick users into revealing confidential data to third parties, such as login names, passwords and bank account numbers, who then use it to steal money from the victim. P ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of transnational advocacy groups in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). From 2001 to 2005, WSIS served as a convergence point for a broad range of public interest advocates attempting to shape international communication-information policy. The efforts of "global civil society" to shape the norms governing information and communication technologies intersected with conflicts among states over U.S. dominance of Internet governance and competition among international bureaucracies for authority and relevance. The outcome of this process was a new international institution, the UN?s Internet Governance Forum, alleged by its founders to be an innovation that embodies a commitment to ?multi-stakeholder? principles and methods. The paper builds on and extends the scholarly literature on transnational advocacy networks and global civil society (TANs) (Bob, 2005; Florini, 2000; Keane, 2003; Keck & Sikkink, 1998; S. Tarrow, 2005) to provide a critical assessment of their role in changing international institutions. Despite the growth of literature on networks in politics and networked governance since Keck and Sikkink's seminal work, there is remarkably little systematic empirical data on this phenomenon. The paper shows how WSIS served as a mobilizing structure for a number of transnational advocacy organizations concerned with communication and information policy. The author?s research team generated extensive data on the organizations and individuals involved in WSIS, and the relationships among them. The study's wealth of empirical data permits it to apply the tools of social network analysis (SNA) to document the network structures and relationships of transnational civil society actors in the WSIS process. This book uses its data on the networks, organizations and individuals involved in WSIS to make an argument about the overall impact of TANs on the process and some more general arguments about the forces driving change in global governance institutions in communication-information policy. It quantifies the centrality of specific individuals and organizations in the WSIS civil society network, and shows how attendance at specific events connected specific sets of actors. The SNA data, when combined with the organizational case studies, dispels some of the ?magic? associated with the ?network form of organization? and highlights the importance of traditional organizations in building and sustaining TANs, while also documenting the importance of relationships to international institutions and funders. Nevertheless, it provides support for the utility of the TAN concept as an analytical construct.The evidence corroborates theories about the symbiotic relationship between TANs and international institutions developed by Tarrow (2001, 2005). The findings support the "coral reef" conception of international institutions, wherein international organizations provide a structure which attracts, in a cumulative or accretive fashion, actors who have an interest in their mission and can benefit from its actions. These become the point for linking international and domestic politics. The data show that WSIS brought pre-existing but fragmented advocacy networks together and established stronger interpersonal and organizational relationships among the "cosmopolitan elite" of civil society actors involved in communication and information policy. The paper provides a critical assessment of the theory and practice of of "multistakeholder" governance as an institutional innovation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The institutions for the realization of democracy are national in scope, but communications industries and information flows have become increasingly transnational. In this paper we consider the implications of promoting the ideas of transnational "civil society" and "multi-stakeholder governance" as default solutions to the problem of democratizing international institutions. Specifically, we critically examine the case of the Campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (the CRIS Campaign) during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). We find the CRIS Campaign's struggle to shape global norms by mobilizing civil society actors, instructive on several levels. First, it reflects a long-term attempt to formulate and apply an overarching frame that puts the social role of communication at the center of policy development. Our analysis suggests that this effort was not that successful -- but the attempt nevertheless holds important lessons for communication scholars interested in the relationship between communication studies and public policy. Second, it provides insights on theories of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) and how those relate to the specific domain of communication policy. The case study also tests theories about the relationship between TANs and international organizations, revealing the interdependence of the needs of international institutions for legitimacy and participation and the needs and incentives of advocacy groups. Last but not least, the results reveal the strengths and weaknesses of multi-stakeholder governance, and raise important questions about institutional changes at the international level motivated by this default solution. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]