[Ecommerce] Cato April 26: Copyright Controversies

[Manon Ress]

FYI
http://www.cato.org/events/060426conf.html

Copyright Controversies
Freedom, Property, Content Creation, and the DMCA

Wednesday, April 26, 2006
F. A. Hayek Auditorium
Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

There are substantial debates under way about intellectual property,
and copyright in particular. Is intellectual property founded in a
natural right to ownership of information? Is it a utilitarian tool
to give incentive to creation? Or is it a counterproductive monopoly
on ideas? The advance of technology has changed the creative process
in many ways. Is copyright consistent with new modes of creation?
Finally, there are questions about how copyright laws are enforced.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act amended the law to accommodate
the advance of the Internet, but it remains highly controversial in
some circles. There are differences of opinion among thoughtful
people on all these issues. Join us at a conference designed to
expose the issues and raise the question: What should we think of
copyright?


8:30=969:00 a.m.=09REGISTRATION
9:00=969:30 a.m.=09INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX),
Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual
Property of the House Committee on the Judiciary Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-
CA), Member, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual
Property of the House Committee on the Judiciary
9:30=9610:30 a.m.=09PANEL I - Foundations of Copyright
Moderator: Drew Clark, Senior Writer, National Journal
Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies, The Cato Institute
Jim DeLong, Senior Fellow, Director of the Center for the Study of
Digital Property, The Progress & Freedom Foundation
David K. Levine, Coauthor, Against Intellectual Monopoly
10:30=9610:45 a.m.=09BREAK
10:45=9611:45 a.m.=09PANEL II - Copyright and Technology
Moderator: Kevin Maney, Technology Columnist, USA Today
Gregory Lastowka, Coauthor, "Amateur to Amateur: The Rise of a New
Creative Culture"
Michael Masnick, President and CEO, TechDirt Corporate Intelligence
Patrick Ross, Senior Fellow, Vice President for Communications and
External Affairs, The Progress & Freedom Foundation
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m=09PANEL III=97 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Moderator: Declan McCullagh, Staff Writer, C|Net News.com*
Tim Lee, Author, "Circumventing Competition: The Perverse
Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act"
Solveig Singleton, Senior Adjunct Fellow, The Progress & Freedom
Foundation
Emery Simon, General Counsel, Business Software Alliance*
Gary Shapiro, President, Consumer Electronics Association
12:45-1:45 p.m=09LUNCHEON
* Invited


Cato events, unless otherwise noted, are free of charge. To register
for this event, please fill out the form below and click submit or
email events@cato.org, fax (202) 371-0841, or call (202) 789-5229 by
12:00 noon, Tuesday, April 25. Please arrive early. Seating is
limited and not guaranteed. News media inquiries only (no
registrations), please call (202) 789-5200.

************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology
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