As it begins its hundredth year, the FTC is increasingly becoming the Federal Technology Commission. The agency’s role in regulating data security, privacy, the Internet of Things, high-tech antitrust and patents, among other things, has once again brought to the forefront the question of the agency’s discretion and the sources of the limits on its power.
Please join us this Monday, December 16th, for a half-day conference launching the year-long “FTC: Technology & Reform Project,” which will assess both process and substance at the FTC and recommend concrete reforms to help ensure that the FTC continues to make consumers better off.
FTC Commissioner Josh Wright will give a keynote luncheon address titled, “The Need for Limits on Agency Discretion and the Case for Section 5 UMC Guidelines.” Project members will discuss the themes raised in our inaugural report and how they might inform some of the most pressing issues of FTC process and substance confronting the FTC, Congress and the courts. The afternoon will conclude with a Fireside Chat with former FTC Chairmen Tim Muris and Bill Kovacic, followed by a cocktail reception.
Full Agenda:
- Lunch and Keynote Address (12:00-1:00)
- FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright
- Introduction to the Project and the “Questions & Frameworks” Report (1:00-1:15)
- Gus Hurwitz, Geoffrey Manne and Berin Szoka
- Panel 1: Limits on FTC Discretion: Institutional Structure & Economics (1:15-2:30)
- Jeffrey Eisenach (AEI | Former Economist, BE)
- Todd Zywicki (GMU Law | Former Director, OPP)
- Tad Lipsky (Latham & Watkins)
- Geoffrey Manne (ICLE) (moderator)
- Panel 2: Section 5 and the Future of the FTC (2:45-4:00)
- Paul Rubin (Emory University Law and Economics | Former Director of Advertising Economics, BE)
- James Cooper (GMU Law | Former Acting Director, OPP)
- Gus Hurwitz (University of Nebraska Law)
- Berin Szoka (TechFreedom) (moderator)
- A Fireside Chat with Former FTC Chairmen (4:15-5:30)
- Tim Muris (Former FTC Chairman | George Mason University)
- Bill Kovacic (Former FTC Chairman | George Washington University)
- Reception (5:30-6:30)
Our conference is a “widely-attended event.” Registration is $75 but free for nonprofit, media and government attendees. You can follow the conversation on Twitter on the #FTCReform hashtag. Space is limited, so RSVP today!
For those unable to attend in person, the conference will be live streamed on C-SPAN, starting at 12:05pm ET.