I encourage tech policy wonks in Washington to attend next week’s (Oct. 5th) Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event on “A Guide to the Internet Political Landscape,” which will feature the release of Rob Atkinson’s new report, “Who’s Who in Internet Politics: A Taxonomy of Information Technology Policy Perspectives
.” The report identifies nine distinct groupings shaping Internet policy and how these groups view key Internet policy issues, including net neutrality, copyright, and privacy.
Rob is one of my very favorite people in Washington and I always look forward to everything he does–even when I disagree with him! I remember a great debate we had a decade ago when he invited me to critique his paper on “The Failure of Cyber-Libertarianism: The Case for a National E-Commerce Strategy.” And at the end of the debate he conceded that I was correct and he immediately converted to the libertarian movement. No, not really! But it was a hell of a fun time.
I hope for a repeat for some of that fun as Rob was kind enough to ask me to comment on his new “Who’s Who in Internet Politics” paper as next week’s event along with Morgan Reed of the Association for Competitive Technology. Rob asked me to peer review an early draft of the study and I can assure you it will make a splash. Come on over to ITIF next Tuesday, October 5th at 9:30am to hear us discuss it. You can
RSVP here. Location is 1101 K Street NW, Suite 610.
The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will hold “a series of public hearings beginning on December 5, 2008, in Washington, D.C., to explore the evolving market for intellectual property (IP).”
It’s timely, then, that we will be having a forum Monday on a provocative book whose thesis is the title: Against Intellectual Monopoly. Co-author Michele Boldrin will present the book, and Rob Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will critique it.
Highlighting one of the issues at Monday’s forum, the Arts+Labs blog points to Atkinson’s testimony about the value of American intellectual property on the export market. Over 50 percent of U.S. exports depend on some form of IP protection, according to Rob Atkinson.
It’ll be a good, interesting discussion. Register here now.
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/9/26/
Speaking of snakes, I am just returned from a camping trip along the Appalachian trail in the Michaux Forest, quite out of wireless reception range. Several days’ heavy rain had washed the forest clean, left the moss glowing green and the mushrooms, salamanders, crayfish, and frogs quite content. There one combats the same problems confronted by earlier settlers–mice (and the snakes they attract), staying dry and tolerably warm, the production of decent meals, and keeping small children from wandering off into the woods. Why do some people enjoy briefly returning to this world? Despite being one of those people, I can’t say. Now I am back and my day is easy and comfortable (comparatively), with time to spare contemplating the meta-structures of finance, property, and capital. Let’s all hope these structures are not nearly as fragile as our confidence in them, which, judging from the tone of remarks at last week’s ITIF conference on innovation, has fallen quite low. Continue reading →
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.