Consumer Watchdog Conference Will Be Webcast Live Starting at 8:30 a.m. ET (5:30 a.m. PT) Wednesday at this URL: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/consumerwatchdog

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Nov 30, 2010, 02:31 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following event was announced today by Consumer Watchdog:

What:	Consumer Watchdog's "The Future of Online Consumer Protections."
When:	8 a.m.- 3 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 1.
Where:	First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20045.

Consumer Watchdog Conference Wednesday To Preview FTC Report On Online Privacy And "Do Not Track Me" List

FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director David Vladeck will discuss a soon-to-be-released FTC report on online privacy and establishing an online "Do Not Track Me" list at a conference convened by Consumer Watchdog Wednesday at the National Press Club.

Vladeck will offer an 8:45 a.m. keynote speech about the FTC's much anticipated report, which is expected to be released in advance of Thursday hearing on "Do Not Track Me" legislation in the House of Representatives.

At 1 p.m. , the Department of Commerce's Associate Administrator for National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Daniel Weitzner will speak. Commerce is also on the verge of releasing a report on online privacy protections.

Bipartisan attention to protecting consumers' online privacy is increasing in Washington. Thursday, Dec. 2, Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Il, has scheduled a House committee hearing on the feasibility of creating a "Do Not Track Me" mechanism. A Consumer Watchdog poll found that nine in ten Americans support legislation to protect online privacy.

Also at the conference a panel featuring Gary Reback, of Counsel, Carr & Ferrell LLP; Scott Cleland, President, Precursor LLc; and Melanie Sabo, Assistant Director for Anticompetitive Practices, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, will discuss competition and antitrust issues on the Internet.

Other panels will discuss: Protecting consumers while they surf the Web: How "Do Not Track Me" would work and other ideas; Protecting electronic health records and ensuring safeguards in the online medical marketing era; and The Internet's impact on creative arts.

The day's agenda and speakers follow:

"The Future of Online Consumer Protections"

8 a.m.:	Registration, continental breakfast

8:30 a.m.:	Welcome from Jamie Court/John M. Simpson
	from Consumer Watchdog

8:45 a.m.:	Keynote speaker: David Vladeck, Director FTC Bureau of
	Consumer Protection.

9:30 a.m.:	First Panel – Protecting consumers while they surf the Web:
	How "Do Not Track Me" would work and other ideas.
	Chris Soghoian, Privacy and security researcher
	Susan Grant, Consumer Federation of America
	Ginger McCall, EPIC

10:30 a.m.:	Second panel – Protecting electronic health records and
	ensuring safeguards in the online medical marketing era
	Dr. Deborah Peel, Patient Privacy Rights Founder
	Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy

11: 20-11:30 a.m.:	Break (coffee)

11:30 a.m.:	Third panel – Competition and antitrust issues
	on the Internet
	Gary Reback, Of Counsel, Carr & Ferrell LLP
	Scott Cleland, President, Precursor LLc
	Melanie Sabo, Assistant Director for Anticompetitive
	Practices, Bureau of Competition, FTC
	Federal Trade Commission

12:30-1:00 p.m.:	Lunch

1 p.m.:	Luncheon speaker Daniel J. Weitzner, Associate Administrator,
	National Telecommunications and Information
	Administration, Department of Commerce

1:40 p.m.:	Fourth panel -- The Internet's impact on creative arts
	Stuart Bernstein, literary agent
	Michael Capobianco, Science Fiction and Fantasy
	Writers of America (SFWA)
	Salley Shannon, President, American Society of
	Journalists and Authors (ASJA)