Secretary Pritzker to Address 10th Annual "State of the Net"

Internet Policy Conference To Be Held January 28 in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Internet Education Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization working to educate the policymakers and the public about the potential of decentralized global Internet to promote communications, commerce and democracy, announced today that Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will address the 10^th Annual State of the Net Conference on January 28, 2014 at the Newseum. This widely attended event provides opportunities to network and engage on key information technology policy issues and offers a balanced blend of perspectives from academics, consumer groups, industry, and government.

The Commerce Department has a central role in the Internet-driven economy, including issuing patents, managing spectrum resources, developing cybersecurity standards, and guiding Internet policy. Secretary Pritzker, who has made the digital economy a core departmental priority, will discuss her approach to critical questions of the day, such as: How can we better protect personal information and intellectual property online? How can we defend our nation's critical digital infrastructure from cyberattack? How can we combat protectionist Internet policies and promote global flows of information and technologies?  And how can we do all this while preserving the fundamentally open nature of the Internet? 

In addition to Secretary Pritzker's address, the 2014 State of the Net Conference will feature in-depth discussions with leading Internet policy experts and panel tracks focusing on timely topics such as NSA electronic surveillance, the new Federal Communications Commission, the patent wars spilling onto main street, the open internet order court decision, rewriting TV video rules for the internet age, revising or rewriting copyright law and the DMCA, and much more.

A full Conference agenda is available HERE. Register at: http://www.stateofthenet.org/register/. Attendance is complimentary for media/government staff and a discounted non-profit/academic rate is also available.

Featured keynotes include:

• Rep. Bob Goodlatte (VA). Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus
• Drew Houston. Founder & CEO of Dropbox
• Penny Pritzker. Secretary of Commerce, US
• Tom Wheeler. Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
• Senator John Thune. Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus

Featured speakers include:

• Susan Athey. Professor of Economics, Stanford
• Judge James G. Carr. Former FISA Court Judge
• Fadi Chehade. President & CEO, ICANN
• Susan Crawford. Professor, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
• Edward Felten. Professor and Director, Center for Information Technology, Princeton University
• Ambassador David A. Gross, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP
• Nuala O'Connor. President & CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology
• Andrew McLaughlin. SVP, Betaworks
• Milton Mueller. Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
• Joel R. Reidenberg. Founding Academic Director, Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham Law School
• Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
• And more…

About State of the Net Conference:
The State of the Net Conference is the largest information technology policy conference in the United States, attracting over 600 attendees annually. As a leader in technology policy, the conference will address policy issues that will challenge the Administration and Policymakers in the next session of Congress. This conference is the lead off to the State of the Net Conference Series that includes the State of the Mobile Net (Spring 2014) and the State of the Net West Technology Roundtables (Summer 2014).

About the Internet Education Foundation:
The State of the Net Conference is hosted by the Internet Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and policymakers about the potential of decentralized global Internet to promote communications, commerce and democracy. IEF works closely with leaders on Capitol Hill and in the private sector to host the most important debates in Internet policy. IEF's board of directors is comprised by public interest groups, corporations, and associations representative of the diversity of the Internet community.

SOURCE Internet Education Foundation