Schedule

Thursday, March 13, 2008 - Harvard Law School

A discussion of the legal implications of internet avatars, which will explore how representations of individuals online, such as through social networking (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and information distribution sites, are currently structured and the efficacy (and wisdom) of proposed regulations for such sites.

  • Breakfast & Registration: 9-10am  Pound Hall, Room 335  
  • Virgil Griffith, Creator of Wikiscanner: 10-11am Pound Hall, Room 335  A discussion of the history of Wikiscanner, including the privacy issues raised by his decision to create an application that provides the IP sources of individuals that alter Wikipedia entries.   
  • Panel: DNA Forensics and the Law: 11-12 pm Pound Hall, Room 335 A discussion of the criminal law as it relates to taking DNA samples from all convicted felons, taking DNA samples during routine criminal bookings, whether data from DNA taken in the course of criminal investigations should be permanently stored in a database, etc.
    • Moderator:
      • Jeannie Suk, Assistant Professor, Harvard Law School
    • Panelists:
      • Simon Cole, Associate Professor, University of California at Irvine
      • David Siegel, Co-Founder, New England Innocence Project   
  • Lunch & a discussion with Larry Sanger, Editor-in-Chief, Citizendium and co-founder of Wikipedia: 12:30-2 pm  Pound Hall, John Chipman Room, Second Floor  "A Defense of Modest Real Name Requirements Online" – A discussion on why online anonymity is and should remain as much a general right online as offline – while also taking into consideration that certain sorts of online communities are justified in disallowing anonymity and pseudonymity.   
  • Panel: Altered Identities: 2-3 pm Pound Hall, Room 335  
  • Keynote Speaker, Michael Sandel, Former Member of President's Council on Bioethics: 3-4 pm  Pound Hall, Room 335 “The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering” – Should new genetic technologies be used only to cure disease or also to enhance athletic performance and create designer children? Drawing on his provocative new book, Professor Sandel will explore the legal and ethical implications of bioengineering.  
  • Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer, Facebook: 4-5 pm  Pound Hall, Room 335  A discussion of the privacy issues surrounding the growth of social networking sites such as Facebook. Mr. Kelly will discuss Facebook attempts to protect the privacy of its users and the challenges posed by inter-user privacy issues, false identity generation, and the impact of application expansion.   
  • Reception: 5-6 pm Pound Hall, Room 335

Friday, March 14, 2008 - Maxwell Dworkin Building (next to Hauser Hall)

  • Panel: Genetic Privacy & Regulation: 10-11 am Maxwell Dworkin, Room 119, Second Floor  A discussion on whether regulation on genetic privacy should occur on a state or federal level and a discussion on what sort of information should be accessible to whom and for what purpose.
    • Moderator:
      • George Annas, Edward Utley Professor and Chair, Boston University
    • Panelists:
      • Patricia Kuszler, Charles I. Stone Professor of Law, University of Washington
      • Gail Javitt, Law and Policy Director, Genetics and Public Policy Center  
  • Merrill Goozner, Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest & Author of The $800 Million Dollar Pill: 11-12 pm "The Pharmaceutical Innovation Conundrum"   
  • Reception, 5 pm Maxwell Dworkin, Room 115  
  • Peter Fleischer, Global Privacy Counsel, Google: 5:30 pm Maxwell Dworkin, Room 115 A presentation focusing on the broader privacy issues associated with the World Wide Web. Mr. Fleischer will discuss his role at Google in maintaining and developing applications with the goal of user privacy in mind.