In this time of increasingly porous borders and globally connected economics and politics, the regulation of media and culture industries is facing new and unpredictable challenges. Transnational media conglomerates are producing and distributing their products in a global marketplace while trying to stem the tide of audience fragmentation exacerbated by so many choices. Governments around the world are trying to promote domestic cultural production while stemming the tide of “cultural imperialism” in the form of Hollywood movies and television programming. Internet service providers are struggling with conflicting laws that allow transmission of contentious material in one area while prohibiting it somewhere else. Standards for the national identity and identification of cultural products remain diverse and confusing for both creators and consumers.

In short, producers and policymakers alike need to reconsider communications law and regulation in the context of shifting borders. Mass media products, including film, television, music, books, newspapers, and magazines transcend national boundaries, through the force of economic scale and the power of digital technology. How can current national and international cultural policy catch up? As media products become part of a global production and distribution network, who takes responsibility for them? Are policies of cultural protection and promotion too limited by national boundaries? Should new technology such as the Internet be legislated by an international court?

The goal of this book is to explore the linkages between media, law, and public policy and how they are affected by changing perceptions of jurisdiction. Topics for chapters can be general or specific to certain countries and policies, theoretical or case studies. Questions worth exploring might include the following:

• Are jurisdictional decisions such as Miller v. California (1973) worth reconsidering given the global production and distribution of Internet pornography?
• Do policies such as Europe’s Television Without Frontiers protect local culture or merely insulate audiences from other choices?
• What jurisdiction, if any, should the United Nations and its organizations such as the WTO, UNESCO, WIPO, and ITU have over global media?
• Are current free speech laws outstripped by the technology through which voices are heard?
• Should responsibility for cultural and media regulation lie with local, regional, or national governments?
• What distinctions should be made between the regulation of “culture” and “media”?
• How can countries better protect or alternatively share their communications satellite space?
• Should national museums and galleries around the world enter into a “free trade” agreement?

This book will be valuable to academics, policymakers, and industry professionals in communications, law, business and public policy.

Please submit a 500 word abstract for your proposed chapter by FEBRUARY 1, 2005 to Nicola Simpson (contact information provided below).

Completed chapters will be due by JULY 1, 2005. E-mail submissions are preferred, in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) attachments. Please include a brief bio and list of previous publications related to this topic. Please note that we are still seeking a publisher for this project.