The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa are delighted to introduce a new joint annual lecture:
Howard Pawley Memorial Lecture
Michael Copps:
Net Neutrality & Beyond
The Long Road Ahead
Wednesday, October 18th, 2017, at 5:30pm
Fauteux Hall, Room 147
57 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON
RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/pawley2017 (before October 16th)
About Net Neutrality & Beyond
Lost in the debate over net neutrality is the future of the Internet beyond that issue: questions of industry consolidation, commercialization, content proprietorship, Artificial Intelligence, etc., that will dictate not only what kind of communications ecosystem we end up with but what kind of world in the future. A true expert and great thinker will discuss net neutrality developments in the United States and even bigger questions beyond.
Even though Canada now has strong net neutrality rules in Canada, US recent developments are of interest to Canada. The U.S. and Canada share the same English common law – including common carriage – and have similar statutory trajectories regarding telecommunications legislation. The U.S. and Canada are also confederations of member states or provinces that, in turn, have delegated telecommunications regulation to commissions. Given the similarities in governance between the U.S. and Canada, these nations often face similar policy issues, and sometimes individuals cross borders in debating them. As a result, telecommunications policy developments in one nation have and can be used to inform policy deliberations in the other.
About the Distinguished Speaker
Michael Copps served as a member of the US Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2011. His tenure was marked by a consistent embrace of the public interest. He has been a strong voice in opposition of consolidation in the telecommunications sector, and notably dissented in the Comcast-NBC Universal merger. He has been a consistent proponent for strong open internet (“net neutrality”) protections, localism in programming, and diversity in media ownership. Though retired from the Commission, he has maintained his commitment to an inclusive, informative communications landscape and now leads the Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause. He also sits on the boards of Free Press and Public Knowledge. Prior to his time at the FCC, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the US Department of Commerce during the Clinton Administration. Michael Copps worked for Senator Fritz Hollings from 1970 into 1985. For the last dozen years, he was his Chief-of-Staff.
About the Howard Pawley Lecture
The Howard Pawley Memorial Lecture is an initiative of Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a national non-profit organization and registered charity that provides legal and research services on behalf of consumer interests, and, in particular, vulnerable consumer interests, concerning the provision of important public services. PIAC specialises in the consumer interest in Canadian communications (telecommunications and broadcasting) law and policy, frequently appearing before Canada’s communications regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The Howard Pawley Memorial Lecture is to honour the memory of Howard Pawley, OC, former Premier of the Province of Manitoba, Canada and long-time PIAC Board member. Howard Pawley was a lifelong member of the New Democratic Party in Manitoba and an unabashed socialist whose proudest achievement was the introduction of public automobile insurance in Manitoba. Howard Pawley passed away at the very end of 2015. He was a consummate gentleman and a great storyteller. His book chronicling his life in politics, Keep True, was published in 2012.
A reception will follow at the Tsampalieros Atrium (3rd floor).
This is a free event. Registration is required. However, attendees can donate online to PIAC (click here) or to the Centre for Law, Technology and Society (click here) whatever they think is fair.
This event will be in English only.
The event will be recorded, and photos may be taken.