I am pleased to announce the Copyright and Technology 2011 Conference, which will be held on Wednesday, November 30, at the Manhattan Penthouse in New York City.  Copyright and Technology 2011 is a co-production of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies and Gotham Media Ventures, and follows the successful debut of the Copyright and Technology conference last year.

We have an exciting lineup of sessions planned.  As with last year’s conference, C&T 2011 will include a plenary session in the morning and then split up into Technology and Law & Public Policy tracks in the afternoon.  Pending New York State Bar Association approval, the Law and Public Policy sessions will carry CLE credit hours.

You’ll hear more and more about the conference in the coming weeks, but right now we are launching the event with a few important announcements.

Keynote Speaker

First, it is my great pleasure to announce the conference’s keynote speaker: Tom Rubin, Chief Counsel for IP Strategy at Microsoft and Lecturer at Stanford Law School.  Tom is one of the few “heavy hitters” in this field who can speak on technical and legal aspects with equal eloquence and authority.  He manages the intellectual property affairs of a company that is both a global technology leader and an owner of all sorts of intellectual property.  He understands both issues of protecting copyright and technologies and legal strategies that can be involved in doing so.  And as I’ve seen over the years I’ve known Tom, he’s a great speaker.

Call for Moderators and Speakers

At this point the agenda is set, and we are looking for speakers.  Please email proposals to me; deadlines are Friday September 18 for legal panels and Friday September 25 for all others.  Those proposing to moderate panels will be given first preference.  Please include the following information in your proposal(s):

• Name and full contact info of proposer
• Name and full contact info of speaker (if different).  Please note that if you are proposing on behalf of a speaker, personal confirmation from the speaker him- or herself will be required before we put him or her on the panel.
• Panel(s) proposed, as well as an indication whether a speaking or moderating role is desired.
• Brief statement describing the proposed speaker’s perspective on the topic(s) in the panel(s) proposed.
• Brief biography (two paragraphs or less) of proposed speaker.

Sponsorships

We would like to thank our launch sponsors: Irdeto (Conference Sponsor), Civolution (Underwriting Sponsor), and Arxan (Partner Sponsor). Sponsorship opportunities are still available for Underwriting Sponsors (limited to two more) and Partner Sponsors as well as Media Sponsors.

C&T Conference sponsorships offer great opportunities for law firms and public policy bodies that specialize in digital copyright issues as well as vendors of relevant technologies to get exposure to informed, high-quality decision makers in the content, technology, telecommunications, online content services, and related industries.  If you are interested, please inquire and we will send you the sponsorship prospectus and answer any questions you may have.

Online registration will open soon; please watch this space for further announcements.

We look forward to seeing many of you in New York this November!