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Information Economy Project 'Big Ideas About Information' Lecture Series
World-class thinkers have lectured at the Information Economy Project. The work of the Project sits
at the intersection of academic research and public policy. Its research enterprise assists established experts and promising young
scholars analyzing the most challenging regulatory questions of our day.
Public policy in the Information Economy is central to the health of the global economy, invokes fundamental free speech
issues, and determines how our basic social and economic institutions are shaped. Already, a debate about the nature of the
Internet rages: Will information technology drive an economic realignment to a post-capitalist “commons,” or are today’s
disruptive technologies an example of the market’s ability to harness creative destruction through property rights? The Information
Economy Project brings the rigor of law & economics to issues of vast social significance. The Information Economy Project invites thought leaders to speak at the George Mason University School of Law, located
in Arlington, Virginia along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The School of Law is located in Hazel Hall.
Among them: Vernon Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics, on the lessons from FCC license auctions; Martin Cooper, CEO of Arraycomm and "father of the cellphone"; Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN, about his revolutionary cable network; former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Dennis Patrick, who abolished the "Fairness Doctrine"; University of Minnesota Professor Andrew Odlyzko, on the 1840s railroad mania and the Internet bubble of the 1990s; William Webb on the theory and politics of spectrum reform, as told from the perspective of a key United Kingdom regulator; and MIT Senior Research Scientist David Clark on social implications of evolving technology.
 Big Ideas About Information Fact Sheet
Big Ideas About Information Lectures:
The Internet Today and Tomorrow: Social Implications of Evolving Technology
Tuesday, February 3, 2009, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
The Internet is now sufficiently embedded in society that it is regularly triggering social, economic and regulatory issues. The hot topics of today are network neutrality, network management, and the question of imposing regulatory limits on Internet service providers. However, those are just today's hot topics. What will happen tomorrow? In this lecture on Tuesday, February 3, at 4 p.m., David Clark, Senior Research Scientist at
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, will look at current and future controversies around the operations of the Internet's architecture. |
Lecturer:
David Clark
Senior Research Scientist at
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
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The Theory, Practice Politics and Problems of Spectrum Reform: A U.K. Regulator's Perspective
November 12, 2008, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
William Webb, Head of Research and Development and Senior Technologist, OFCOM, the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom. Webb aims to dissect the liberalization process in Great Britain and offers lessons learned. This experience promises great insight for the U.S. and other countries struggling to enact pro-consumer policy reforms. |
Lecturer:
William Webb
Head of Research and Development and Senior Technologist, OFCOM, the telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom
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Technology Manias: Comparing the 1999 Internet Bubble with the 1840s Railroad Mania
March 18, 2008, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
Professor Odlyzko will compare the Internet bubble of the turn of the century with the British Railway Mania of the 1840s, the greatest technology mania in history – up until the Dot.com bubble. In both cases, clear evidence indicated that financial instruments would crash. Yet, vast fortunes were wagered. Now, many are asking: has Bubble 2.0 arrived? Professor Odlyzko offers his analytical insights on this nagging question. New! Prof. Odlyzko is quoted extensively in The New York Times on March 13, 2008, diagnosing the challenging developments in the flow of Internet traffic. |
Lecturer:
Andrew Odlyzko
Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Digital Technology Center and the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute at the University of Minnesota
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Abolishing the Fairness Doctrine: Looking Back After 20 Years
July 18, 2007, National Press Club, First Amendment Room, Washington, DC
Recently, policymakers have flirted with the idea of resurrecting the “Fairness Doctrine,” regulating TV and radio broadcasters. At the National Press Club on July 18, 2007, the IEP showcased the man who killed it, former FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick. Introduced by Dan Polsby, Dean of the George Mason University School of Law (and a former FCC attorney who argued for abolition in the 1970s), Patrick gave, for the first time, a fascinating insider’s account of the FCC’s version of shock therapy, abruptly ending the Fairness Doctrine on August 4, 1987. |
Lecturer:
Dennis Patrick
Former FCC Chairman
Introduction by Dan Polsby, Dean of the George Mason University School of Law (and a former FCC attorney who argued for abolition in the 1970s).
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Personal Communications and Spectrum Policy in the 21st Century
February 21, 2007, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
Martin Cooper conceived and demonstrated the world's first cell phone in 1973. Then a Motorola Vice President, Cooper helped engineer the technology that made spectrum re-use via cellular architecture feasible. He has since continued to lead exciting advances in wireless networks, including the “array antenna” concept deployed to enhance the bandwidth of phone systems around the globe. |
Lecturer:
Martin Cooper
CEO,
Arraycomm & “Father of the Cellphone”
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Present at the Revolution
October 4, 2006, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
>> Unedited transcript [Word]
Brian Lamb founded the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network in 1979. The network’s primary channels, C-SPAN1 and C-SPAN2, are today distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households. The non-commercial presentation of congressional debates and hearings, think tank seminars, political speeches and debates, tape recordings of Supreme Court arguments and presidential phone calls, Book TV, the Road to the White House, and myriad other political, historical, and public policy offerings make C-SPAN a unique and valuable contribution to American life. Yet, federal regulation did not lay down the welcome mat for C-SPAN, which at its creation – and often, since – has been on the receiving end of rules designed to protect the “public interest” in broadcasting. From his exceptional vantage point, Mr. Lamb will explain how the regulation of mass media often triggers the Law of Unintended Consequences. |
Lecturer:
Brian Lamb
Founder and CEO, C-SPAN
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FCC License Auctions: Lessons from a Tumultuous Twelve Years
May 2, 2006, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA
Having been involved in the design and implementation of the competitive bidding mechanisms used by the Federal Communications Commission to award wireless licenses since 1994, there is much to learn from their assessment of how license auctions have worked, how they might be improved, and how they have impacted the allocation of radio spectrum rights. |
Lecturers:
Vernon Smith
Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2002
David Porter
Professor in the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason
University
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Big Ideas About Information Fact Sheet
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