IEEE SCV PACE: The times, they are a-changing

Organized by: IEEE SCV PACE

Eventbrite registration:

http://pace_jan_2013.eventbrite.com/

Event Time: January 21, 2013 ( Monday), 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM (PT)

Venue:

Ramada Inn, Silicon Valley

1217 Wildwood Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Abstract

In response to industry pressure, two bills were introduced in Congress that would significantly expand the reach of copyright law, especially on the Internet. The SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) bill in the House and PIPA (Protect IP Act) in the Senate were on a fast track for quick passage. The extensive reach of these bills created intense alarm, especially among internet providers and civil liberties advocates. One year ago this month, both bills were stopped dead in their tracks by massive protests, including an online petition coordinated by Google that collected over 7 million signatures, a physical protest in New York City, 24 hour blackouts of over 7,000 websites including Reddit and Wikipedia, plus thousands of phone calls and e-mails to Congressional offices.

The past twelve months have seen escalation in the smart phone IP litigation wars, passage of the America Invents Act (which bodes ill for startups and individual inventors), and ongoing efforts by the MPAA and RIAA to foster draconian intellectual property laws in other nations via international treaties such as TPP and ACTA. In the European Union, public reaction to ACTA led to protests in more than 200 cities and unprecedented rejection by the European Parliament. 2012 was a helluva year for intellectual property and 2013 promises to be equally ‘interesting’. There’s a battle outside and it’s raging. It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changing.

About the speaker:

Orin E. Laney, BSEE, MBA, PE, NCE, SM-IEEE is a member and former chair of the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee. As a design engineer at both large and small companies, and as a business owner and employer he has experienced the issues to be discussed from both sides of the table. Mr. Laney is an entertaining National Speaker on behalf of the IEEE, and has spoken pro bono at over 100 college campuses and section meetings on intellectual property rights, starting a business, career management and similar professional matters.