Schedule

General Conference Description

The conference will consist of breakfast, two morning sessions, lunch with a keynote speaker, an afternoon session, 3 breakout sessions addressing the three earlier presentations and a cocktail party. The morning sessions will consist of a moderator, principal speaker and two commentators. The third session will begin with a principal speaker, followed by a roundtable discussion. Each session will include time for audience participation.

Program Description and Schedule

8-8:30Continental Breakfast

8:30-8:40Welcome and Introductions

8:45-10:15Session I: Intellectual Property

Many people view broad IP rights as impediments to novel and creative uses of the internet and new media models; others see IP rights as necessary to protect informational property in an environment that facilitates easy copying and distribution.  The kickoff session will examine these competing views.  How does IP law affect content distribution (especially of news and ideas) in the new media?   How should protection of IP rights be balanced against preservation of a rich public domain?  How can IP rights make space for innovative uses of digital technology and new media models?  For example, should liability attach to user-generated content that makes incidental or highly transformative use of copyrighted material (e.g., the YouTube case, and the use of fragments on news aggregation sites)?  How should the law deal generally with other novel media-related uses of the internet (e.g., the Google Book Project)?  What role should digital rights management tools play in controlling the use of digital content?

  • Moderator: Maureen O'Rourke, Dean, BU School of Law
  • Principal Speaker: Gigi Sohn, President, Public Knowledge, Washington
  • Commentator: Robert Bone, Professor of Law, BU School of Law
  • Commentator: Bruce Sunstein, Bromberg & Sunstein, Boston

10:15-10:30:Break

10:30-12:00Session II: The Blogosphere

 The journalist A.J. Liebling wrote, "Freedom of  the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."  In the 21st century, everyone can own a press, creating a "new journalism."  Should bloggers be treated like the traditional media for purposes of defamation, reporter's privilege, privacy and other First Amendment questions?  How can society protect reputation, privacy and safety without infringing on constitutional values?  Who is liable for infringing material?  Should online defamation be treated as an
"information crime" in order to deter posting content that causes serious damage to reputation?  What about business and human resource issues, including trademark and trade secret issues and employees who post on blogs?  Should you review and remove content that could be "problematic?" What if the blog does not relate to any work function?

  • Moderator: Joseph Steinfield, Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye, Boston
  • Principal Speaker: Sherrese Smith, Deputy General Counsel, The WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive
  • Commentator: Wendy Gordon, Professor of Law, BU School of Law
  • Commentator: Lisa Williams, H2otown
  • Commentator: John Wilpers

12:15-1:45Lunch
Keynote Speaker:Markos Moulitsas, The Daily Kos

Markos Moulitsas was born on September 11, 1971, in Chicago, IL. The son of a Salvadoran mother and Greek father, Moulitsas spent his formative years in El Salvador (1976-1980), where he saw first-hand the ravages of civil war. His family fled threats on their lives by the communist guerillas and settled in the Chicago area. After high school, Moulitsas served in the U.S. Army (1989-92) as a 13P -- Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Fire Direction Specialist. He trained at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and served the remainder of his three-year enlistment in Bamberg, Germany. While he entered the Army as a Republican, he abandoned the GOP soon after his enlistment. Moulitsas earned two bachelor degrees at Northern Illinois University (1992-96), with majors in Philosophy, Journalism, and Political Science and a minor in German. He subsequently earned a J.D. at Boston University School of Law (1996-99) before deciding that it would be a cold day in hell before he ever worked as a lawyer. He headed West to the San Francisco Bay Area to make his dot.com millions but got nowhere. He worked as a project manager at a web development shop when, in 2002, he started Daily Kos. Moulitsas flirted with political consulting in 2003 before deciding that 1) he hated it, and 2) he didn't need to do it. Daily Kos was making enough revenues to allow him to blog full-time, which he still does today. In addition to running Kos Media, LLC, which publishes Daily Kos, Moulitsas is also founder of the SB Nation network of sports blogs, and co-founder of Vaster Books. He's an avid pianist and composer. He is co-author of the critically acclaimed book Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the world by People en Espaņol, clocked in at third in Forbes Web Celeb 25 rankings, and was listed 26th in PC World's list of the "Most Important People on the Web." Moulitsas has been happily married since 2000. He has a wonderful toddler, Aristotle, and another child (sex unknown) is scheduled to hit the scene in early April.

2:00-3:30Session III:
 Gatekeeping in the New Media Environment

An examination of the future of the new media and the effect on the marketplace of ideas. Who are the gatekeepers, if any, and how do the changes in this area affect what news and ideas people have access to and are exposed to? Does the new media of abundance lead to a more robust marketplace of ideas or does everything get lost in the flood? Will consumers respond by implementing their own limits? Will the quality of journalism and other types of information content be limited by the lack of a way to finance it? What will be the role of citizen journalists? Is some control, social or otherwise, needed? Should the government have a role?

  • Moderator: R. D. Sahl, New England Cable News
  • Principal Speaker: Mark Jurkowitz, Associate Director, Project for Excellence in Journalism, Washington

Round Table:

  • Mark Jurkowitz
  • T. Barton Carter, Professor, BU College of Communication
  • Peter Mancusi, Executive Vice President, Weber Shandwick
  • Ellen Hume, Director, Center on Media and Society, UMass Boston
  • David Ardia, Director, Citizen Media Law Project, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School

3:30-3:45Break

3:45-4:45Breakout Sessions

The breakout sessions are designed to give conference attendees an opportunity to discuss the session topics. There will be three breakout sessions, one corresponding to each of the three main sessions. Conference attendees can choose the breakout sessions that they prefer. Each breakout session has a session leader, who will facilitate group discussion of the issues raised by the session topic.

Leaders:

  • Breakout Session I: Intellectual Property
    Robert A. Bertsche, Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye
  • Breakout Session II: The Blogosphere
    Dan Kennedy, Professor of Journalism, Northeastern University; blogger, Media Nation
  • Breakout Session III: Gatekeeping in the New Media Environment
    Tobe Berkovitz, Dean, BU College of Communication

5:00-6:00:Drinks and Light Hors D'oeuvres.