Survey invitation for a research project on intellectual property right on the Internet

Dear Diplo Internet Governance Community,
I would like to invite you to voice your opinions on copyright issues in cyberspace and thus participate in the research project of a young Bulgarian researcher.

“Intellectual property rights on the Internet: issues and challenges” is the provisional title of the MA thesis research of Nikolay Kolev. The project aims to summarize the global debates related to intellectual property rights in the age of web 2.0 and the different policy responses at national level to the issue of digital piracy.
In order to get a thorough perspective beyond formal reports from public organizations or the published academic literature in the field, the author has decided to create a user-friendly web survey to be sent to experts and researchers on global internet governance issues.

The survey is available until October 31st 2009 on this URL: http://ip-kolev.questionpro.com/

The survey is intentionally short – in order to allow people with less time to fill in and share their opinions on certain perhaps controversial point from the global debates. However, the survey also invites everyone interested to submit more thorough elaborations by filling in the provided spaces.

All the data gathered through the survey will be used solely for the purposes of the research project. The survey asks for the name and nationality of the respondents. The nationality is particularly important in order to map the debate. Furthermore, if you feel that due to your professional or other affiliation your participation should be confidential, the author guarantees anonymous use of your opinions.

The global perspective which will be gathered through the survey will aid potential recommendations for policy changes on national level in Bulgaria.

The author is intentionally not taking a standpoint in the debate. The project is a purely academic effort and is not funded or in any other way related to influential actors in the debates on intellectual property rights enforcement – neither industry nor public bodies.

The MA thesis is to be submitted in Bulgarian language to the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communications of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria.
Supervisor of the research project is Ass. Prof. Teodora Petrova from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communications.