Copyright, the Internet, and the Rule of Law by Andrew Bridges, Fenwick & West LLP

Critics have described the Internet as a lawless place, the “Wild West,” which needs to be governed by the rule of law. Many of these critics are major copyright interests who argue that the rule of law needs implementation through restrictions in computing technologies and consumer devices. Mr. Bridges will discuss that argument and then turn his attention to the rule of law as applied to the current copyright law environment. He will argue that, while numerous laws have targeted the Internet and consumer devices over the last two decades, the U.S. Government’s copyright law policy itself undermines the rule of law. He will discuss how five different aspects of copyright law and policy compare to principles of the rule of law: (1) the treaty and trade agreement process, (2) the legislative process, (3) criminal enforcement, (4) civil enforcement, and (5) “voluntary cooperation” initiatives spearheaded by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

Bridges, a native of Atlanta and a former law clerk to U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob, practices law at Fenwick & West LLP in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. He has represented pioneers in technology and Internet businesses for over 20 years. Among other matters, he defended the distributor of the first MP3 player against the recording industry’s effort to ban it (RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia); defended Google over its search engine (Perfect 10 v. Google/Amazon.com); defended MasterCard when challenged over its payment processing for allegedly infringing web sites (Perfect 10 v. Visa and MasterCard); represented eBay, Facebook, IAC/InterActiveCorp and Yahoo! in their amicus brief before the Second Circuit in Viacom v. YouTube; recovered the dajaz1.com domain after its seizure and secret detention by Homeland Security; and represented UK college student Richard O’Dwyer in resisting extradition to the US and prosecution for operating a U.K.-based website that linked to other sites offering streams of television shows. He was active in the fight against the SOPA and PIPA legislation, and he advocates for technology, Internet, and free speech interests in international arenas.

For registrations received by Wednesday, April 24, the cost is $10 for students, $20 for members of the IP Law Section of The State Bar of Georgia or The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and $30 for non-members. Register for the event at gabar.org.

Registration at the door will be $35.

One hour of CLE credit is pending approval and lunch will be provided.