larry downes

6:56 am on July 28, 2015 · daniel berninger (3), dave farber (13), georgetown (7), IP transition (2), larry downes (3), mcdonough (3), telecom (19)

VIDEO: Completing the #IPTransition @GeorgetownCBPP

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On June 24 2015 the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy hosted a symposium Completing the IP Transition: Confronting Technical Challenges and Maximizing Consumer Benefits. Given the premise that too little attention has been paid to either the underlying technical challenges or new consumer value of the the transition of today’s analog telephone network to the all-IP infrastructure of the Internet, participants considered the principle that reaching finish line requires policymakers and stakeholders to understand better the remaining engineering hurdles inherent in the on-going process, as well as the benefits that can be fully realized only with full implementation. The session comprised a keynote and two panels that explored these facets, technical and social. Video is below.

Keynote: Henning Schulzrinne, Professor, Columbia University and former Chief Technologist, Federal Communications Commission
Introduction: John Mayo, Professor of Economics, Business and Public Policy, Georgetown University and Executive Director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FE6fR4MiiCA

 

PANEL 1: Technical Challenges and How Best to Resolve Them
Speakers: Eric Burger, Research Professor of Computer Science, Georgetown University and Director, Security and Software Engineering Research Center at Georgetown University; David Farber, Adjunct Professor of Internet Studies, Carnegie Mellon University; Jon Peterson, Distinguished Fellow, Neustar; Don Parente, Director, Technology Strategy – Chief Architect, AT&T

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6crSDNJV43U

 

PANEL 2: Opportunities for Enhanced Consumer Experience in an All-IP World
Speakers: Larry Downes, Project Director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy; Brian Fontes, CEO, National Emergency Number Association; Debra Berlyn, President, Consumer Policy Solutions; Patrick Brogan, Vice President of Industry Analysis, USTelecom; Eric Burger, Research Professor of Computer Science, Georgetown University and Director, Security and Software Engineering Research Center at Georgetown University; Dan Berninger, Founder, VCXC

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fc-aKR4gA88

3:28 pm on July 7, 2014 · blair levin (9), cbpp (1), georgetown (7), itif (9), larry downes (3)

VIDEO: The Internet and Communications Regulation:  A Policy and Technology Symposium @GeorgetownCBPP

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On June 10 2014 the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy hosted “The Internet and Communications Regulation:  A Policy and Technology Symposium,” a panel to discuss the technical and economic background of current issues related to the Internet. Speakers: Blair Levin, Communications and Society Fellow, The Aspen Institute; Patrick Gilmore, Chief Technology Officer, Markley Group; Brent Olson, Vice President of Public Policy, AT&T; Robert D. Atkinson, President, The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation; Jeffrey Campbell, Vice President, Cisco Government Affairs; with moderation by Larry Downes, Senior Industry and Innovation Fellow and Project Director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. The group discussed the technical and economic background of the internet, since knowing how and why the internet works is crucial to gaining an understanding of current issues and policy options. Video is below:

View on YouTube: http://youtu.be/bmidMhequwQ
Transcribe on AMARA: http://www.amara.org/en/videos/23IuxFyvV6Xr/
Summary: http://cbpp.georgetown.edu/2014/07/03/technical-economic-background-internet

4:14 pm on August 30, 2010 · interval research (1), larry downes (3), patent (10), paul allen (1)

Is Paul Allen’s goal patent reform?

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We are all aware of Paul Allen’s recent moves to sue leading Internet companies over a number of patents held by Interval Research.

Larry Downes, author of The Laws of Disruption, has come up with a novel explanation for Allen’s sudden move into litigation – his ultimate aim is patent reform!

From Paul Allen: When a Patent Troll is an Enigma :

Something tells me there’s something else going on. Patent litigation is an elaborate chess game, and it feels like this is a move deep inside a very long-running game. There’s a great deal that’s broken about the patent system. I’m just not sure yet whether this lawsuit is Exhibit A.

What other answer is possible? Here’s at least one crazy possibility (there are crazier ones, but this one at least is plausible). Maybe Allen is not the world’s most famous patent troll. Maybe he’s out to become the world’s most famous patent reformer. Maybe he doesn’t want so much to win as to publicize how dangerous his patents are.

Perhaps in asserting these patents, with their potential to unsettle so much of what is taken as settled business practices in the digital economy, he hopes to force leading tech companies and Congress to acknowledge that the system is broken and fix it. If he wins, or even if he just wears down the other side, perhaps he’ll demand not financial tribute but actual reform of a system that gives patent holders like him the power to disrupt digital life.

If so, it’s a dangerous gambit. On the other hand, it’s hard to see how the patent system could get much worse than it already is.