There are two good conferences happening in the Bay Area on January 26th.

Technology in Wartime Conference is being put on by Computer Professional for Social Responsibility at Stanford.

The goal of this non-partisan conference will be to consider the ethical implications of wartime technologies and how these technologies are likely to affect civilization in years to come. Ultimately we want to engage a pressing question of our time: What should socially-responsible computer professionals do in a time of high tech warfare?

The Toll Roads? The Legal and Political Debate over Net Neutrality by the The University of San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Bulletin

Net Neutrality refers to free access to the Internet without discrimination based upon how often a user accesses the Internet or how much broadband capacity they utilize. Advocates for Net Neutrality believe that users are entitled to unlimited access in order to preserve current freedoms as well as to prevent broadband providers from abusing their power to block applications they do not favor or to discriminate between content providers. Critics of Net Neutrality and associated legislative proposals believe that Net Neutrality rules would reduce incentives to upgrade networks and launch next generation network services and, in turn, inhibit the most efficient access to the broadband network.

Should Internet Service Providers continue to drive the same “neutral” course, giving all search requests and other uses of the Net equal treatment? Absent legislation, will these ISP’s create Internet “toll roads,” giving preference to certain types of information? It is these types of questions that are at the heart of the debate on Net Neutrality.