mesh conference

If you’re interested in the dramatic news out of Egypt, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, you’ll be in fine company at mesh – so are we! And we have the content this year to keep you fascinated, including appearances by people who were on the ground as events developed, participating in them and reporting home about them.

Some sessions to keep an eye on:

– Society Keynote with Ron Deibert of Citizen Lab
– Old Media, New Media and Revolutions in the Middle East
– Digital activism in an Age of Unrest
– Egypt: A Case Study in Digital Activism
– Al-Jazeera Reinvents Television for the Online Age
– Political organizing in a wired world – a very special session produced by TVO’s The Agenda, onsite at mesh.

Finally, on the evening of May 26th at the Munk School of Global Affairs Journalism Lab, CBC’s Brian Stewart will be moderating a panel discussion titled “Tweeting the Arab Revolutions” with mesh speakers Mona Seif, Sarah Abdurrahman and Jillian York in a panel discussion.

We hope to see you at mesh11! (Online ticket sales end at noon today!!)

I can’t think of anyone who has done more than Michael Geist to educate Canadians about the interaction of law and the internet. Seemingly always in motion, he has written countless articles and blog posts, has been interviewed from one end of the country to the other multiple times, is constantly reporting from one international conference to the next about developments in law and technology, and now, finally, has his own wikileaks cable. And perhaps most significantly, he has worked tirelessly to educate us about the critical role that copyright law will play as our economy and culture become increasingly linked to and dependent on the internet. It has at times been a lonely road, and one that has earned him the ire of the US media industry and its lobbyists, as well as Canadian Cabinet Ministers attempting to do their work. But to many Canadians, his is the face of balanced, fair copyright suited to the needs of our country.

I’ve always enjoyed listening to Michael’s presentations – they are invariably creative, funny, insightful and intensely educational. You will always learn something vitally important, and emerge from the experience a better informed digital citizen.

This year, on the heels of a Parliament that concluded without resolution of the latest effort to amend Canada’s Copyright Act, and as we draw nearer to the conclusion of negotiations over an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that will have profound implications for copyright law, and on the eve of a new Parliament with a Government that has announced its intention to pass a controversial copyright bill, Michael will join us for a very special session on what comes next.