Silicon Flatirons event tackles tech policy from antitrust to copyright law

Tech companies, from Amazon.com Inc. to Google LLC, have amassed more market power than ever over the past few years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only fueled their dominance.

They have also become embroiled in numerous policy debates under both the Trump and Biden administrations, ranging from antitrust to ongoing battles over the reform of Section 230, a law that protects internet platforms from liability for content posted by users.

Tech policy experts will scrutinize those debates and more at an April 14 virtual event hosted by the Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado Law School.

The event, titled "Platform Policy for Networks, Infrastructure and Applications," will cover ongoing battles for everything from net neutrality and governance of infrastructural providers to Section 230 of the Communications and Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Featured speakers include Adi Robertson, senior reporter at The Verge; Annemarie Bridy, copyright counsel at Google; and Evelyn Remaley, acting assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The issues facing tech companies have garnered more news attention over the last five years than in the last 20 years, with active antitrust cases, new privacy legislation and a re-examination of copyright law, said Blake Reid, director of the Telecom and Platforms initiative at Silicon Flatirons and clinical professor at the University of Colorado Law School.

For example, Big Tech grabbed headlines just last week when the U.S. Supreme Court voted in favor of Google in its copyright battle with Oracle Corp., saying Google's use of Oracle code to develop its Android operating system did not violate copyright law. Meanwhile, Amazon, Facebook Inc., Google and Apple Inc. are all facing antitrust scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over their market power and could face more regulation under the Biden administration.

While there are many different policy debates at play, the Silicon Flatirons event is designed to help attendees understand that these issues are inherently intertwined, Reid said.

"I hope they will walk away with the sense that a lot of conversations that feel maybe like they are separate from each other are actually interconnected and have a lot of overlap," Reid said.

	Government
	April 14	The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing at 2:30 p.m. titled "Vaccinations and the Economic Recovery."
	April 15	The House select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will host a hybrid in-person/remote hearing at 10:30 a.m. on "Reaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Science-Driven Approach to Swiftly and Safely Ending the Pandemic."
	Industry, legal and think tank events
	April 12-15	The Utilities Technology Council will host its 2021 technology forum in Reno, Nev.
	April 13	The FCBA will host a program from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. titled "The Converging Communications and Technology Sectors: An FCBA All-Chapter Event."
	April 13	Forbes will hold its virtual 2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate.
	April 14	Silicon Flatirons will host a webinar event titled "Platform Policy for Networks, Infrastructure, and Applications."
	April 15	The FCBA will host an event from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. titled "The Implications of Covid-19 on the Distribution of Programming."

Stories of note:

Supreme Court sides with Google in Oracle copyright dispute

US Supreme Court dismisses Trump's Twitter account case

Facebook's planned kid-friendly Instagram app not all sunshine and rainbows

US Commerce Department eyeing policy solutions for semiconductor shortage

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