Media, Culture and Communication Rights Network

Thursday 14 October 2004 - 9.15am - 6.30pm

9.15am Doors open

9.45 - 10.00am Welcome MCCRN representative

10.00 - 10.45am Keynote - Cees Hamelink with response from Annabelle Sreberny (Media and Film Studies at SOAS)

10.45 - 11.45am Framework on Communication Rights Defining Key Issues in the European Context

Speakers Sean O'Siochru and Claudia Padovani

12.00 - 1.30pm Communication Rights Grassroots Experience and Social Realities

Speakers Roberto Verzola (Philippines) and Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng (Uganda)

1.30 - 2.30pm Lunch Break

(cheap food is available from the venue and there are many pubs and shops in walking distance)

2.30 - 2.45 Introduction to the Afternoon (MCCRN representative)

The afternoon focuses on three global issues and aims to find common ground that links these varied strands together to examine how to produce vibrant, relevant and powerful campaigns. Each panel will have short contributions from speakers, followed by an open floor discussion.

2.45 - 3.45pm The Security State and Technologies of Control

As civil liberties crumble under the wave of repressive anti-terrorism legislation being introduced across Europe, the UK is becoming a testing ground for new levels of surveillance and control. While migrants will be tagged with satellite tracking devices, the general population will be required to carry 'Biometric Microchip Identity Cards' to access healthcare, welfare benefits and local services like transport, with all data being stored in a vast national information system of linked databases accessible by thousands of government departments and other 'interested' parties.

What are the latest developments, what are the strategies of different campaigners, how are they working together to form broader coalitions to prevent this repressive wave from obliterating fundamental human rights and freedoms?

3.45 - 4.45pm Migration: Freedom of Movement and Free Communication

Despite increasing tendencies of global governance directed at the flow of migration and communication through databases like the Schengen Information System, biometric controls etc, people continue to move and communicate. This panel will explore the connections between free movement and free communication, looking at institutions like the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as well as the movements against these types of global governance and the ICT tools they are using.

4.45 - 5.45pm The Corporatisation of Communication and Knowledge: What measures are needed to counter corporate hegemony. Is another communication possible?

The growth of corporate power in europe is reflected in increasing concentration of ownership in media and communications. Safeguards to preserve pluralism have been insufficient to keep in check the big corporations unaccountable power over public life. This panel looks at the rise of corporate power in Thailand and Italy and its base in major communications corporations. It asks what measures are needed to counter the corporate communications hegemony and asks "is another communication possible?", as well as drawing parallels with other areas such as Intellectual Property.

5.45 - 6.30pm Closing Session

Note: The Camden Centre has a licensed bar which will be open through the evening.