Leaders from the technology industry, government and academia, including Federal Trade Commissioner Jon Leibowitz, Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Stanford Professor of Law Lawrence Lessig, will evaluate questions related to changing broadband and wireless markets. They also will discuss challenges related to protecting privacy and security, and the optimal direction for intellectual property reform.

Overview

The transformation of telecommunications from an analog, narrowband network optimized for voice to a digital, broadband network optimized for data traffic has created a myriad of challenges for businesses, policymakers, and academics alike. Consider that, in 2000, when then-FCC Commissioner Michael Powell coined the term "the digital broadband migration," the iPod had yet to be rolled out to consumers and Google was not yet a verb. Seven years later, the iPod has revolutionized the music industry, the iPhone is sending shock waves through the wireless world, and the Apple TV may similarly bring dramatic changes to video programming markets.

In 2009, the next President will take office with an array of information policy questions demanding attention. This conference aims to underscore the challenging policy issues that will be high on any new administration's agenda. In particular, we will evaluate questions related to changing broadband and wireless markets; challenges related to protecting privacy and security; and the optimal direction for intellectual property reform. With a thoughtful array of leaders from academic, industry, and governmental circles, we believe that this conference will continue the Silicon Flatirons' tradition of encouraging "bolder thinking" in Boulder. Like its predecessors, the proceedings from this conference will be published in the next volume of the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law.