Half-Day Conference

The Law and Economics of File Sharing & P2P Networks

June 17, 2004 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM EDT

1st floor/Wintergarden

Featuring Jack Valenti, President and Chief Executive Officer, Motion Picture Association of America; and the Hon. Rick Boucher, U.S. Representative from Virginia.

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Can copyright law and peer‐to‐peer (P2P) networks coexist? A bitter battle over this question continues to rage years after Napster introduced the world to the phenomenon of file sharing over P2P networks. Napster’s meteoric rise was quickly reversed, however, after the recording industry successfully litigated to shut down the site. But Napster spawned many P2P descendants that are more decentralized in nature and more difficult to shut down as a result. Nonetheless, content providers are again exploring legislative options and litigation strategies to stem what they regard as illegal piracy of copyrighted works. Will it work? Does file sharing really have a detrimental impact on music and movie sales? Can copyright law and affected industries adapt to live with P2P networks, or must file‐sharing sites be shut down permanently? This Cato half‐day conference will offer a balanced discussion of these questions and the future of copyright law in the post‐Napster era.

Agenda

8:30–8:50 a.m.	Registration
8:50–9:00 a.m.	Welcoming Remarks Adam Thierer Cato Institute
9:00–9:30 a.m.	Morning Keynote Address Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA)
9:30–10:45 a.m.	Panel 1: Debating the Economic Impact of File Sharing Moderator: Adam Thierer Cato Institute Koleman Strumpf University of North Carolina Eric Garland Big Champagne Sam Yagan MetaMachine, Inc./eDonkey Stan Liebowitz University of Texas at Dallas
10:45–11:00 a.m.	Break
11:00 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.	Panel 2: Can Copyright and P2P Coexist? Moderator: Declan McCullagh CNET Networks, News.com Matthew Oppenheim Jenner & Block Michael Weiss StreamCast Networks/Morpheus Marty Lafferty Distributed Computing Industry Association Michael Einhorn Brattle Group and author, Media, Technology, and Copyright: Integrating Law and Economics
12:15–12:45 p.m.	Luncheon Address Jack Valenti Motion Picture Association of America
12:45 p.m.	Lunch

Registration for this event has been closed.

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