SLS Hosts Legal Futures Conference

Some of the country’s top legal minds gathered at SLS in early March to discuss the future of law and policy in a digital age. Co-hosted by Google and the law school’s Center for Internet and Society, the Legal Futures conference kicked off on March 7 with a speech from Federal Communications Commissioner Kevin Martin about the agency’s auctioning off of wireless spectrum as well as “troubling” practices used by Comcast to manage network traffic. Martin’s speech was followed by a combination of discussions and more informal “Foo-style” panels—a format originated by O’Reilly Media in which the program is chosen by attendees. On March 8, Legal Futures opened to the public for standing-room-only debates about digital privacy, intellectual property, globalization, and other areas undergoing rapid change. There was no shortage of high-profile speakers, from Duke Law School’s James Boyle and Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski to general counsels from Apple, Google, and Time Warner. SLS speakers on the roster included Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean Larry Kramer; Mark A. Lemley (BA ’88), William H. Neukom Professor of Law; Lawrence Lessig, C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law; and Lauren Gelman, lecturer in law and executive director of the Center for Internet and Society.