Friday Talk: Free Speech vs. Property Rights Online

March 10, 2010

Take a world tour of the legal minefield of intellectual property on the web, from court actions against Google to your personal digital rights. Attorney Chris Watson, of CMS Cameron McKenna, gives a talk, on "Commercial Rights vs. Communications Rights: Walking the Tightrope," on Friday at noon at the Watson Institute.

Watson, partner and head of the telecoms team at Cameron McKenna, will describe how in the digital age, where universal access and telecommunications infrastructure underpin technological and economic progress, the Information Society must balance the public interest in the freest possible communications with the protection of intellectual property rights and investment.

Watson will consider recent developments and views from around the world including global plans to prevent peer to peer file-sharing, references to the European Court of Justice, and recent court actions against Google, e-bay, and internet service providers in several jurisdictions.

His talk will also launch a new lecture series at the Institute on Globalizing Knowledge Flows and their Media.