1:00-1:10

Welcome and Introduction

 Johannes M. Bauer, Quello Center

1:10-2:40

Infrastructure Access: Fairness and Efficiency

Next-generation IP-based networks will most likely be more strongly differentiated into a transportation layer and an application and services layer.  In the emerging environment of inter-modal competition between multiple broadband platforms, the interests of platform providers and content providers will often be aligned but may sometimes at odds.  Is the possibility of such frictions sufficient reason to mandate certain non-discrimination principles or may they be dealt with more efficiently on a case by case basis?  Will the absence of non-discrimination bias the evolution of technical network architectures toward more closed approaches that may hamper innovation in the long run?  How will we best handle massive amounts of traffic as multimedia applications proliferate?  Under which conditions will there be sufficient investment in next-generation infrastructure to close the gap that has opened to other nations? 

 Chair:                    Brian Fontes, AT&T

 Speakers:           Marvin Sirbu, Carnegie Mellon University (Presentation PDF)

                Joe Waz, Comcast

                Link Hoewing, Verizon (Presentation PDF)

                Rick Ducey, BIAfn and SpectraRep (Presentation PDF)

3:00-3:30

Keynote Addres

Chair:                     Richard E. Wiley, Wiley Rein LLP

Speaker:               The Honorable Robert M. McDowell, Commissioner, FCC (Speech at FCC website)

3:30-5:00

Serving the Public Interest in Next Generation Media

Even when media were one-way vehicles for delivering content to media consumers, identifying the public’s interest in media services and crafting policies to address that interest posed conceptual and logistical challenges that were never fully resolved—a situation abundantly evident in the current clash of opinions over ownership policies for commercial media and the funding and oversight of public broadcasting.  These challenges are considerably amplified by the emergence of a plethora of new media services delivered via IP-based networks.  With new media, users are both sources as well as recipients of information?  What are the policy interests in the types of services and user-to-user relationships this new functionality has unleashed?  Failures of commercial media to adequately supply socially-important information services is the traditional rational for public broadcasting.  Will there be similar unmet public needs in a future dominated by IP-based services? If so, how should policy respond?

 Chair: Steven S. Wildman, Quello Center

 Speakers:             Paula Kerger, PBS

                                Robert Corn-Revere, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (Presentation PDF)

                                 Philip Napoli, Fordham University (Presentation PDF)

                                 Ben Scott, Free Press

5:00-6:00

Reception