First 2010 Google D.C. Talk on ACTA: the global treaty that could reshape the Internet

Posted by Mistique Cano, Public Policy Communications Manager

The first Google D.C. Talk of 2010 will be this coming Monday, January 11th and it should be an interesting exchange.

It's on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, known as ACTA, which the U.S. and other countries have been negotiating for the last two years. A number of consumer advocates and technology companies, including Google, have raised serious concerns about ACTA's potential reach and the impact it could have on Internet users' rights and innovation.

The talk will be moderated by Washington Post Consumer Technology Columnist Rob Pegoraro, who wrote a must-read piece on the issue.

The panel will tackle important questions like:  Will ACTA preserve the existing balance in intellectual property laws, providing not just enforcement for copyright holders but also appropriate exceptions for technology creators and users? Will it undermine the legal safe harbors that have allowed virtually every Internet service to come into existence? And will it encourage governments to endorse "three strikes" penalties that would take away a user's access to the Internet?

What other questions should be raised? Submit and vote for questions through Google Moderator. And, if you can make it, come be a part of the exchange:

When: Monday, January 11, 2009
4:30 p.m. Discussion

Where: Google D.C.
1101 New York Avenue, NW 2nd Floor
Entrance on Eye Street, Washington, D.C. 20005

Please RSVP so we've got enough chairs!