The rise of network neutrality as a crucial Internet policy debate has produced a situation in which current events far outpace theoretical and historical analyses. This is a call for research to address this lag, with three primary goals:

• Contextualizing recent events in relation to historical telecommunications antecedents.

• Critically evaluates the current network neutrality debate and offers a set of technical and policy guidelines for a new, more broadly defined network neutrality.

• Move debate toward a more holistic account of Internet freedom.

A publishable research paper, plus one or more shorter versions usable in other contexts, would be the desired outcome of this call. This work could be integrated into a range of New America Foundation activities, including public forums, and also support the work of its partner organizations.

We would welcome and put to good use research that critically evaluates the current network neutrality debate and offers a set of technical and policy guidelines for a new, more-broadly-defined network neutrality. In our view, progress in this area depends on a more holistic account of Internet freedom -- one that not only encompasses current facets of network neutrality, but moves well beyond these parameters. Such work would be enormously beneficial to public-interest internet advocacy, the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition, and to the New America Foundation in particular, which issues this call, and would help push the envelope in support of a more participatory and diverse global Internet.

The rise of network neutrality as a crucial Internet policy debate has produced a situation in which current events far outpace theoretical and historical analyses. Public-interest understanding and advocacy for net neutrality would be considerably strengthened by efforts to address this lag in scholarship—especially by contextualizing recent events in relation to historical telecommunications antecedents.

Through this call, we seek a paper that critically evaluates the current network neutrality debate and offers a set of technical and policy guidelines for a new, more broadly defined network neutrality. We would suggest two further framing points:

• It seems likely that progress in this area involves moving beyond redefining network neutrality to connect issues usually dealt with separately—issues that are ultimately a subset of one overarching concern: Internet freedom.

• We would also like to see exploration of the social and political consequences of this broader conception of network neutrality and strategic thinking about how this “new network neutrality” would provide a proactive foundation for creating a more open and participatory Internet.

A publishable research paper, plus one or more shorter versions usable in other contexts, is the desired outcome of this call. If successful, this work would be integrated into a range of New America Foundation activities, including public forums, and also support the work of its partner organizations.

Given the current prominence of the net neutrality debates, a 2008 timeframe is important for this project.

Sascha Meinrath, New America’s Spectrum Policy Director, is the primary contact for this project.