panelist sought, anti-circumvention/DVD, NYC Feb 4

Apologies for the last-minute notice.

I am seeking a panelist with a strong legal background in 17 USC 1201 anti-circumvention measures, trade secrets law, and the DVD/DeCSS cases, to represent the point of view of the MPAA in a panel to be held Friday, February 4, 2000, 10:30-11:45 a.m., at the Javits Convention Center, New York City, as part of the LinuxWorld Expo.

Cancellation of another panel which I was scheduled to moderate makes this alternate topic possible. I have *not* yet received approval from the Expo organizers for this event, however I have interest from several parties. Potential candidates for the free-software side of the panel include Eric Raymond, of the Open Source Initiative; John Gilmore, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Chris DiBona, VA Linux Systems; and a representative from 2600, hacker organization, magazine, and website; with others yet to be heard from. I've offered to moderate the panel.

This will probably not be a warmly received role, but it would be very helpful to have both sides presented. The audience can generally be expected to favor liberalizing CSS controls and weakening anti-circumvention provisions. Expo attendees will represent both development and corporate interest in Linux and free software. Familiarity with legal particulars will range widely, but I expect the audience will generally tend to be unfamiliar with specifics of applicable law, precedent, and procedures.

I have no authority over speaker compensation and arrangements. While I suspect conference registration and such will be provided, I don't know about any other fees or arrangements. Natalie Vercauteren <Natalie_Vercauteren[_at_]idg.com> at IDG would be the point person for these details.

Again, this panel has not yet been authorized, however the timeslot and space are free, and there is significant interest from the free software side of the fence.

Please respond by email to the address below. I will in NYC the 1st through the 4th, but will be checking email periodically.

Any participation would be most warmly appreciated.

Thank you.

-- 
Karsten M. Self (kmself[_at_]ix.netcom.com)
    What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?

SAS for Linux: http://www.netcom.com/~kmself/SAS/SAS4Linux.html
Mailing list:  "subscribe sas-linux" to mailto:majordomo[_at_]cranfield.ac.uk