This is the call that just went out today. If you want to participate - here's how. The conference will be in Silicon Valley, so for people in the Bay Area, it will be easy to get to.

You don't have to do a full on panel in order to participate. One very popular session we did last year involved a lot of 5 minute presentations from people who wanted to discuss a topic they were interested in. We'll do it again this year.

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The 20th annual ACM Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference is pleased to announce our call for participation, soliciting proposals for sessions and topics at the conference as well as volunteers to help us organize and publicize it.

CFP is the leading policy conference exploring the impact of the Internet, computers and communications technologies on society. We focus on topics such as freedom of speech, privacy, digital rights and responsibilities, free culture and intellectual property, cybersecurity, electronic democracy, anonymity, and the future of technologies and their implications. This year’s conference theme is Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in the Networked Society, and we are especially interested in exploring the ways different kinds of networks — social, communication, information physical — interact with freedom and privacy.

If you’re interested in helping to shape the conference program, please read on for the Call for Proposals, which describes how you can suggest speakers, topics, workshops, tutorials, and panel sessions. Or if you prefer, a better-formatted version is available on our blog at cfp.acm.org/wordpress/

And every year, somewhat miraculously, a team of volunteers gets together to create an amazing program, organize the conference, and publicize it online and off. This year, we hope that you’ll join us. If you’d like to help out, please see our help wanted page at cfp.acm.org/wordpress/

Jon Pincus and Dorothy Glancy, co-chairs

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Call for Proposals

This year’s conference theme is Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in the Networked Society. We especially encourage proposals that focus on the ways different kinds of networks — social, communication, information physical — interact with freedom and privacy. We’re also looking for proposals that take advantage of this year’s location in Silicon Valley, include a diverse set of panelists and new voices, feature multiple perspectives on challenging issues, and look to the future by exploring cutting-edge technology, legal, and policy issues.

For more information on how to submit a proposal to CFP 2010, please see our page at cfp.acm.org/wordpress/

From these proposals (and discussions on the blog) the program committee assembles the final program. Don’t be surprised if your proposal undergoes some modifications; we frequently combines multiple proposals, or take a session topic and add some different speakers.

Our early-bird deadline is December 1; selected early proposals will be notified of acceptance by January 15.

The final deadline is January 31. Notifications will be sent by March 1.

The submission process can look very intimidating, so we’ve got some suggestions and example proposals up in our how-to page. Don’t worry too much if you get some of the details wrong; and if you’ve got any questions, please ask!

If you’ve any questions — or quick suggestions of speakers and topics — please leave them as comments on the blog at cfp.acm.org/wordpress/

Speaking of the blog, that’s another great way to participate in Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2010. Please check cfp.org/wordpress/ for the latest!