DWeb Policy Action Plan: DWeb Goes to Washington by Chris Lewis, Catherine Stihler, Danny O'Brien, Ross Schulman, and Nick Garcia
Presented by Chris Lewis, Catherine Stihler, Danny O'Brien, Ross Schulman, and Nick Garcia
We know from past experience with other new technologies that government policy can shape their destinies dramatically. DWeb will be no different, and yet policymakers may not have good understandings of DWeb’s motivations, technologies, or practices — or if they do, may be skeptical. As a community, we need to help shape policy, or we run the risk of having it shaped for us by interests that don’t align with our goals and values. Panelists will describe the policy landscapes that DWeb faces at national levels — where we must act — and introduce the policy areas, strategies, and activities we might consider for maximum impact.
Campers interested in participating to build a more specific plan of policy action can join the companion workshop sessions that will follow this panel over the course of the Camp.
Catherine Stihler, OBE FRSE is the CEO of Creative Commons. She has been an international champion for openness as a legislator and practitioner for over 20 years. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland in 1999, a post which she held until 2019. While serving as an MEP, Catherine was also elected to serve as the 52nd Rector of the University of St Andrews between 2014 and 2017, and was the first elected Senior Lay Member, chairing the university governing body (University Court) from 2019 to 2022 In 2018 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of her service to the university and in 2019 the Queen recognised Catherine’s public service by awarding her an OBE. Catherine spent 18 months transforming the Open Knowledge Foundation, before joining Creative Commons as CEO in August 2020. In 2022, Catherine was elected to the national academy of Scotland, the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Videos from the summit:
Danny O'Brien has been an activist for online free speech and privacy for over 20 years. In his home country of the UK, he fought against repressive anti-encryption law, and helped make the UK Parliament more transparent with FaxYourMP. He was EFF's activist from 2005 to 2007, and its international outreach coordinator from 2007-2009. After three years working to protect at-risk online reporters with the Committee to Protect Journalists, he returned to EFF in 2013 to supervise EFF's global strategy. He is also the co-founder of the Open Rights Group, Britain's own digital civil liberties organization.
In a previous life, Danny wrote and performed the only one-man show about Usenet to have a successful run in London's West End. His geek gossip zine, Need To Know, won a special commendation for services to newsgathering at the first Interactive BAFTAs. He also coined the term "life hack."
It has been over a decade since he was first commissioned to write a book on combating procrastination.
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Ross Schulman is a co-director of the Cybersecurity Initiative and senior policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute where he focuses on cybersecurity, encryption, surveillance, and Internet governance. Prior to joining OTI, Ross worked for Google in Mountain View, California. Ross has also worked at the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and on Capitol Hill for Senators Wyden and Feingold. Ross earned his juris doctor magna cum laude from Washington College of Law at American University and his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brandeis University.
Videos from the summit:
Christopher Lewis is President and CEO at Public Knowledge. Prior to being elevated to President and CEO, Chris served as Public Knowledge’s Vice President from 2012 to 2019 where he led the organization’s day-to-day advocacy and political strategy on Capitol Hill and at government agencies. During that time he also served as a local elected official, serving two terms on the Alexandria City Public School Board. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance and represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG).
Before joining Public Knowledge, Chris worked in the Federal Communications Commission Office of Legislative Affairs, including as its Deputy Director. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and has over 18 years of political organizing and advocacy experience, including serving as Virginia State Director at GenerationEngage, and working as the North Carolina Field Director for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign and other roles throughout the campaign. Chris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelors degree in Government and lives in Alexandria, VA where he continues to volunteer and advocate on local civic issues.
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Nicholas P. Garcia is a Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge, focusing on AI, the decentralized web, and other emerging technologies. He has an expertise in intellectual property and tech and telecom policy. Nick received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, his M.A. in Ethics and Society from Fordham University’s Center for Ethics Education, and his B.A. in cursu honorum in Philosophy from Fordham University. Nick is a native New Yorker, and an unabashed nerd who loves video games, science fiction, and tabletop RPGs.