Foundry Fellow, Dyllan Brown-Bramble sits down with Gabrielle Hibbert, a Fellow at the Decentralized Future Council and Hillary Brill an Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown Law to discuss the work of the Decentralized Future Council, the future of Web3 law and policy, and why early-career professionals should get up to speed on it.
New Organization Dedicated to Untangling Decentralized Technologies for Policymakers
We are at a fork in the road when it comes to building an Internet that enhances trust, allows users to maintain their privacy, incentivizes entrepreneurs to build safe and secure systems, and allows historians to archive the world’s most cherished information. We are optimistic that policymakers and industry leaders can help shepherd the new iteration of the Internet in the interests of humanity. It is at this critical inflection point that we are excited to announce the launch of the Decentralized Future Council (DFC.)
The Decentralized Future Council is a new organization dedicated to advocacy and education for the emerging decentralized Web and related technologies. A project by both the Internet Education Foundation and Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized (FFDW), the Council will raise awareness for the larger ecosystem of new technologies, from blockchain to cryptocurrency. Additionally, the Council will work to educate policymakers around new and upcoming challenges that correspond with these emerging technologies including privacy, security, democracy, online trust and safety, and more.
In the coming months, the Council will be building out platforms for policy engagement on decentralized Web issues. Upcoming events include:
Trust and Safety and the Decentralized Web (March 24, 2022): A virtual seminar exploring potential trust and safety implications of Web3 technologies (In conjunction with the Trust & Safety Foundation).
The DWeb Policy Summit (April 2022): An in-person event in Washington, DC featuring Web3 thought leaders set to discuss the decentralized Web’s potential in policy areas.
1st Annual Decentralized Web Policy Forum (August 2022): An invite-only gathering in Jackson Hole bringing together key policymakers, DWeb stakeholders, and members of the press. The Summit will tackle broader policy issues related to the emerging decentralized Web.
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Anna G. Eshoo announced Representative Michael McCaul as House co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus. Congressman McCaul succeeds Congressman Doug Collins as the Internet Caucus co-chair. Representative McCaul serves as the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member and represents the 10th district of Texas. Representative McCaul also serves as the Chairman Emeritus on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the founder of the Congressional High Tech Caucus
Welcome to @RepMcCaul, who I'm proud to announce will join me as a Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus. The ever-changing landscape in internet policy requires strong, bipartisan leadership and I'm honored he's my partner in leading the Caucus.
Several extremely prescient Members of Congress founded the Congressional Internet Caucus in 1996 to address the knowledge gap among House and Senate Members regarding the nascent Internet. Almost a quarter of a century later, the mission of the Caucus — to educate other Members about Internet technology and its implications — remains even more critical today.
The bipartisan Congressional Internet Caucus remains among the most prominent and active caucuses on Capitol Hill. The Caucus is chaired by Senators John Thune and Patrick Leahy on the Senate side. Representative Anna G. Eshoo and Senator Leahy are founding Members of the Caucus.
In addition to its educational program for Members and Congressional staff, the Congressional Internet Caucus created the Congressional App Challenge. The Congressional App Challenge encourages middle and high school students to compete in district-wide coding competitions. It has become the most prestigious computer science award for students. The Congressional Internet Caucus Academy applauds the appointment of Congressman McCaul as the House Caucus co-chair. His activity in tech and cybersecurity legislation has been unmatched. In addition to his bipartisanship, he is among the most influential and respected Members of Congress.
About The Congressional Internet Caucus Academy The Congressional Internet Caucus Academy (CICA) is a part of a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The CICA is a neutral platform where thought leaders debate important technology issues that shape legislative and administration policy in an open forum. We vigilantly adhere to our mission to curate balanced and dynamic debates among Internet stakeholders. Our volunteer board members ensure that we dutifully execute that mission. More information on the CICA is available at www.netcaucus.org.
Jack West, a political professional with experience on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail, will be joining the Congressional App Challenge as Congressional Operations Coordinator. The Congressional App Challenge is a congressional initiative to encourage student engagement in coding and computer science through a series of concurrent contests hosted by Members of Congress.
“Jack brings forth an energetic and passionate perspective to the program,” said Joseph Alessi, Congressional App Challenge Program Director. “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jack will be a key player in expansion efforts of the CAC throughout the country.”
Jack will bring Capitol Hill experience, as well as experience on the campaign trail. He previously served as a Legislative Intern with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and a Field Organizer with the Biden for President coordinated campaign in Minnesota. He has extensive experience crafting political messaging, organizing grassroots movements, and engaging with constituents of all ages.
“I’m excited about the prospect of encouraging our nation’s youth to learn more about coding and computer science,” said West. “In the era of COVID-19, STEM education is a vital part of developing key skills for the workforce of tomorrow. I look forward to encouraging STEM education for all American students.”
Jack is a May 2020 graduate from Indiana University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Spanish. He currently resides in Washington, DC.
In 2020, the CAC reached 308 members of Congress across 49 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, D.C.. 1,851 applications were submitted with over 6000 students participating. The CAC continues to increase its presence across the country and outpace tech-industry diversity metrics. The CAC aims to continue its growth in 2021 and beyond.
We are thrilled to announce that Charlotte Willner will be the founding Executive Director of the Trust & Safety Professional Association (TSPA) and its sibling organization, the Trust & Safety Foundation Project (TSF). We launched TSPA and TSF earlier this year to support the global community of professionals who develop and enforce principles and policies that define acceptable behavior online, and to improve society’s understanding of trust and safety. We are delighted that Charlotte will start at the helm of both organizations next month.
We are excited for Charlotte to lead TSPA and TSF because of her pioneering work shaping the field of online trust and safety for more than a decade, grappling with the challenges and complexities of developing and implementing guidelines for online behavior as the internet has grown. She’s an effective and compassionate leader who has built and coached multiple international teams doing this critical work, and she has a record of caring for the professional development of others.
Charlotte joins TSPA and TSF from Pinterest, where she has been the Head of Trust and Safety Operations, overseeing online safety, law enforcement response, and intellectual property matters. She previously led international support, and built out the first Safety Operations team, at Facebook.
Charlotte has made a huge impact in her in-house roles in trust and safety, and we’re excited to see her continue to shape the broader community too. Please sign up here so we can share developments with you as they happen, and follow us on Twitter, too.
* TSPA is a 501(c)6 membership-based organization. TSF is a fiscally sponsored project of the 501(c)3 Internet Education Foundation (IEF).
The third event in the Internet Law and Policy Foundry’s Diversity and Inclusion Series: Discriminatory Surveillance For registration
The Internet Law and Policy Foundry (ILPF) is excited to invite you to the third event in our Diversity and Inclusion Event Series, which explores how issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity intersect with the internet law and policy spaces.
Powered by artificial intelligence, surveillance technologies such as facial recognition technologies can now identify, track, and analyze individuals and their behaviors in real time and recognize up to 100 people in a single image by can quickly scanning information it collects against databases that feature tens of millions of data points. These surveillance technologies are increasingly being adopted by law enforcement, with few safeguards and oversight, raising concerns related to privacy and data protection among other things. This panel will explore how surveillance technologies have been developed and deployed in the United States, how the use of these tools have contributed to discriminatory outcomes, and what effective policy reforms in this space could look like.
A link to the event will be sent to registered attendees on the day of the event.
Tickets are free. Donation tickets are available in case you wish to support the Foundry activity.
To share this event: https://surveilliance.eventbrite.com
Speakers:
Jasmine McNealy
Jasmine is an Associate Professor of Telecommunication at the University of Florida, where she teaches courses on regulation. She researches media, technology, and law with an emphasis on privacy, surveillance and data governance. She is also the Associate Director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at UF, and a Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
Evan Greer
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello calls Evan “a heck of a guitar player,” but she’s perhaps better known as an activist. She’s been on the frontlines of some of the most notable grassroots victories of the last decade, from defending net neutrality to helping free Chelsea Manning to keeping facial recognition surveillance out of music festivals. When she’s not parenting or recording pop-punk songs about surveillance capitalism, Evan writes regularly for outlets like The Guardian, Washington Post, NBC News, and Buzzfeed. Follow her on Twitter @evan_greer
Jeremy Greenberg
Jeremy Greenberg is a Policy Counsel with Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) where he works to promote responsible data use in emerging technology. Prior to that, Jeremy served as a Policy Fellow with FPF where he worked on issues around privacy legislation, artificial intelligence, and advertising technology. Before joining FPF, Jeremy was a Law Clerk in the Office of U.S. Senator Ed Markey where he focused on a number of telecom and privacy items. Jeremy holds a J.D. from Georgetown University School of Law and a B.S. in Cinema, Photography and Media Arts from Ithaca College.
Moderator
Donalene Roberts
Donalene Roberts is a recent graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Research Assistant for the Center on Privacy and Technology.
During law school, Donalene was a privacy law intern at Facebook, a participant in Georgetown’s Iron Tech Lawyer competition, and a student advocate in the Federal Legislation Clinic where she co-wrote a model state bill with MIT engineers on smart cities.
Donalene is currently an Assistant Counsel at Office of Legislative Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives. In her free time, Donalene enjoys reading dystopian fiction and exploring hiking trails in the DMV area.
The Internet Law and Policy Foundry (ILPF) is excited to invite you to the second event in our Diversity and Inclusion Event Series, which explores how issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity intersect with the internet law and policy spaces.
Time and time again, research has indicated that a diverse workforce can introduce a broad array of perspectives into an organization and can yield a significant number of additional benefits including increased employee engagement, more informed and creative decision-making, increased innovation, greater productivity, and decreased employee turnover. Despite this, entities in the technology policy space still struggle to integrate diversity and inclusion in their workplaces. Join the Internet Law and Policy Foundry for a virtual panel discussion on how tech policy organizations can hire and build diverse workforces, establish workplace cultures that promote an inclusive environment, and address issues of implicit and explicit bias.
Event will take place on Thursday at 3 PM EST. Register here. Webinar information will be provided to registrants on the day of the event.
The digital divide disproportionately impacts communities of color and other marginalized groups, who often lack reliable and affordable access to the internet. These issues have been compounded by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s policy will convene a diverse set of students and early career professionals to ideate solutions related to disparities in access to the internet.
Registration will be open until November 7 via this link (you could additionally register through Eventbrite only if you wish to donate to the foundry and help us grow.)
Registered guests will receive more details about the event.
The Internet Law and Policy Foundry’s Diversity and Inclusion Event Series: Understanding Algorithmic Discrimination.
About this Event
Please join the Internet Law and Policy Foundry for a panel discussion on how algorithms can perpetuate historical biases in areas such as housing, employment, and credit and how policymakers and internet platforms can tackle these issues.Link will be provided before the event.
Speakers and bios:
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation, and serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief of TechTank. Dr. Turner Lee comes to Brookings from the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC). Prior to joining MMTC, Dr. Turner Lee was vice president and the first director of the Media and Technology Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Dr. Turner Lee graduated from Colgate University magna cum laude and has a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University.
Hodan Omaar
Hodan Omaar is an analyst focusing on AI policy at ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation. Previously, she worked as a senior consultant on technology and risk management in London and as a crypto-economist in Berlin. She has an MA in economics and mathematics from the University of Edinburgh.
Morgan Williams
Morgan Williams is the general counsel for the National Fair Housing Alliance. Williams is responsible for leading NFHA’s strategic and tactical legal initiatives and affairs. Williams leads NFHA’s efforts to pursue pioneering litigation under the federal Fair Housing Act, often utilizing testing-based evidence and working in partnership with NFHA’s network of local fair housing centers.
Spandana Singh
Spandana Singh is a policy analyst with New America’s Open Technology Institute, where she researches and reports on policies and practices related to algorithmic decision-making, content moderation, transparency reporting, intermediary liability, and disinformation. She is currently also a Fellow at and the Vice President of the Internet Law & Policy Foundry, as well as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Esya Centre in New Delhi.