Digital Rights Management Tools:
Whose Rights Are Being Managed?
April 3, 2003
Panelists
Overview | Video | Panelist Biographies | One Pagers
Alan Davidson, Associate Director
The Center for Democracy and Technology
Alan Davidson is Associate Director at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a Washington D.C. non-profit group working to promote civil liberties and human rights on the Internet and other new digital media. Mr. Davidson leads CDT's Internet free expression and digital copyright projects, and has testified before Congress, written, and spoken widely on the civil liberties implications of computer security, encryption, and other Internet policy issues. He also leads CDT's efforts to promote democratic values and individual rights within new domain name, Internet governance, and technical standards bodies.
Mr. Davidson works broadly on issues relating to Internet policy including free speech and censorship, broadband access, Internet standard-setting, and international jurisdiction. From 1997 to 2000 he led CDT's multi-year campaign to promote widespread availability of strong encryption security technologies. His other research interests lie generally in civil liberties and the special problems posed by the interaction of technology, public policy, and the law.
Mr. Davidson is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's program in Communications, Culture, and Technology, where he currently teaches a graduate seminar on the policy implications of Internet technical architecture.
Mr. Davidson was a computer scientist before entering the policy world. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he received an S.B. in Mathematics and Computer Science and an S.M. in Technology and Policy. Mr. Davidson worked as a Senior Consultant at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, designing the information systems for NASA's Space Station Freedom Project. He has also worked on technology and policy issues at the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment and for the White House Office of Policy Development.
Mr. Davidson attended law school at Yale, where he was Symposium Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He remains active in MIT alumni affairs, and has served as a Trustee of the MIT Corporation.
Mairead Martin, Assistant Director
Middleware Systems Technology, The University of Wisconsin, Madison
Mairead Martin is Assistant Director for Middleware Systems Technology within the Division of Information Technology at The University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has presented extensively on DRM nationally and internationally, and with a grant from the National Science Foundation, chaired the "NSF Middleware Initiative and DRM Workshop" held in September 2002.
Shira Perlmutter,
Vice President and Associate General Counsel
Intellectual Property Policy, AOL Time Warner Inc.
Ms. Perlmutter is responsible for the development and coordination of the company's positions on intellectual property policy issues, including domestic and foreign legislation and international treaties.
Ms. Perlmutter joined AOL Time Warner from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, where she was a consultant on the copyright issues involved in electronic commerce. From 1995 to 1999, she was Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office. In that capacity, she advised Congress on, and drafted portions of, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, and prepared the Copyright Office's 1999 Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education and its 1997 Report on Legal Protection for Databases. In 1996, Ms. Perlmutter was a key member of the U.S. delegation that negotiated the two WIPO Internet Treaties, and served as the expert on the copyright law of the United States during the World Trade Organization TRIPs Council review of developed countries' copyright laws.
From 1990 to 1995, Ms. Perlmutter was a law professor at The Catholic University of America, teaching Copyright Law, Trademarks and Unfair Competition, and International Intellectual Property Law. She was the copyright consultant to the Clinton Administration's Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure in 1994 and 1995. From 1983 to 1990, she practiced law in New York City, specializing in copyright and trademark counseling and litigation. She is a co-author of a casebook on International Intellectual Property Law and Policy, and has published numerous articles on copyright issues.
Ms. Perlmutter received her A.B. from Harvard University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Bruce Turnbull, Partner
Weil, Gotshal and Manges
Bruce H. Turnbull, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, has a wide-ranging regulatory and legislative practice, with specific emphasis on international trade, intellectual property policy, and telecommunications. As co-chair of the WGM Public Policy Group, Mr. Turnbull's practice emphasizes in-depth understanding of complex substantive issues, translating the subject matter into legislative language and advocacy materials, and explaining key issues in terms comprehensible by policy-makers in Congress and the Administration.
In the international trade field, Mr. Turnbull's practice extends to all types of issues faced by multinational companies -- and, frequently, by foreign governments -- in connection with cross-border transactions and related activities. He has had leading roles in major litigation under the U.S. countervailing duty and antidumping laws and in trade disputes arising under Section 301 of the U.S. trade laws. He has counseled government and private clients on major trade negotiations (including NAFTA and GATT) and advocated on policy issues before Executive agencies and the Congress. In particular, Mr. Turnbull has led efforts to ensure that U.S. international trade laws fairly implement international agreements so as to promote the expansion of trade and trade opportunities. Mr. Turnbull also has substantial expertise regarding export control issues and U.S. Government review of certain acquisitions by foreign-based companies.
Mr. Turnbull has worked for a decade on the development of intellectual property policy as it relates to digital technologies and in legislative drafting and advocacy related to such policy development. His efforts have included substantial roles in the drafting and enactment of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 and in the development of legislative and related policies in the digital video area.
Prior to joining WGM, Mr. Turnbull worked for former Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) and as legislative counsel to the National Retail Merchants Association.