June 12-13, 2009
Council Chamber, 8/F Meng Wah Complex,
The University of Hong Kong

Twenty years ago in a galaxy not so far away, the World Wide Web came into existence. Today, most people have grown up with computers and the Internet. Many of them have also experienced the cyberspace from the very first time they sat before a computer. Although recent commentaries focus primarily on the challenges created by new media, the current debate is no longer a simple debate about media transition–where the old and new collide. Instead, the debate has become increasingly complex and multifaceted, with direct implications for our society–which range from business to personal life and from education to civic participation.

What does it mean when people are born or have grown up digital? How do different forms of media interact with each other in an increasingly convergent environment? What type of legal, social and cultural challenges have arisen when people actively participate in the information age? Has the digital lifestyle paved the way for the development of new business models, social relationships and government regulation? Do we need to rethink some of our real-world assumptions when we talk about the Net Generation? Should traditional concepts, such as privacy, identity, free speech and journalism, be reconceptualized in cyberspace?

This timely, interdisciplinary conference brings together Asian and Western scholars to examine how law, media and technology interact with each other in a rapidly-changing digital environment. The event is jointly organized by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong and the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. It is also cosponsored by the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong and the Technology & Entertainment Law Program at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee.