Maryland Juice Goes Public // I'm On a Panel This Thursday in DC for Social Media Week

www.socialmediaweek.org

• [ rsvp required ]

Who was Really Behind Internet Blackout Day? A SOPA & PIPA Case Study & Happy Hour

Hosted by: Public Knowledge

Category: Politics & Government

Location: Buffalo Billiards- Adirondack Room, Washington, DC

Thursday, February 16 at 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

As Grant Gross reports in his 2/3/12 piece, “Who Really Was Behind the SOPA Protests?”

” Some critics have blamed Silicon Valley tech firms for the massive online protests last month against two controversial copyright bills.

Other groups have trumpeted the grassroots nature of the protests.

The first narrative, that giant tech companies drove the uprising, has little basis in fact, according to several people who helped organize the protest.

The second storyline, that the protests bubbled up from regular Internet users, comes closer to explaining the phenomenon, but reality is more complicated, participants said.

The protests were a combination of independent decisions by websites including Wikipedia and Reddit to go black on Jan. 18, behind-the-scenes organization by a number of groups, and grassroots response to the blackout and other online efforts, participants said.”

This panel discussion and networking event will introduce you to some of the people behind “American Censorship Day” and the “Internet Blackout Day” for a candid discussion discuss their the strategies and tactics that lead up to over 14 million people to contacting Congress in a single day.

We will discuss how Internet experts, non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs from across the political spectrum came together to successfully derail SOPA and PIPA and offer a glimpse into what this means for future advocacy campaigns.

Moderated by

• Ernesto Falcon, Director of Government Affairs for Public Knowledge

Featuring

• David Moon, Program Director - Demand Progress
• Markham Erickson, Executive Director - NetCoalition
• Mark Stanley, New Media Manager - Center for Democracy & Technology
  
• Rachna Choudhry, Co-founder - PopVox

[ rsvp required ]

Ernesto Falcon is Director of Government Affairs for Public Knowledge who lead the coalitions outreach on Capital Hill. Ernesto Falcon came to PK from the office of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), where he worked for three years as the senior legislative assistant dealing with issues related to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. Ernesto previously worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) for three years as a technology manager and legislative assistant. He originally came to Washington D.C. on an internship with Congressman George Miller (D-CA) in early 2004 shortly after graduating from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a degree in Political Science.

David Moon is a Washington-based policy attorney and political consultant. He also edits MarylandJuice.com, a Maryland politics blog. The former Chief Operating Officer of the election reform group, FairVote, Moon has coordinated numerous advocacy efforts to make our electoral process more fair and accessible. In recent years, he has managed and assisted successful campaigns for progressive Democrats, political action committees and ballot initiatives around the country. His issue portfolio has included work on smart growth and transit issues, criminal justice reform, LGBT rights, women’s rights, civil liberties, and more. He is a graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law and received his bachelors degree from Tufts University.

Markham C. Erickson is a founding partner of Holch & Erickson LLP where he represents clients before federal regulatory agencies, courts, and the United States Congress. Beginning in the mid-1990s, representing Netscape and AOL, Mr. Erickson helped to write and negotiate many of the federal laws that govern e-commerce, technology, and the use of the Internet, including the CAN-SPAM Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the Communications Decency Act. Markham also serves as lead counsel and executive director of NetCoalition a coalition representing Google, eBay, Amazon.com, IAC, Yahoo! and others.
 
Mark Stanley is the New Media Manager at the Center for Democracy and Technology. He has worked on the communications teams for Investigative Reporters and Editors, Newsy.com, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Mark received a BA and Master’s from the Missouri School of Journalism.

Rachna Choudhry is responsible for outreach to advocacy organizations and trade associations, marketing to individual users and assists with outreach to Congressional staff. She is based in Washington, DC. Rachna comes to PopVox with a background in federal lobbying, issue advocacy and social media strategy for a variety of national issue-based and advocacy organizations. Most recently, she worked as a lobbyist for the National Partnership for Women & Families where she promoted policies that addressed the needs of working women. She earned a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Political Science degree from UCLA.

Press Pass Application

Buffalo Billiards- Adirondack Room

• 1330 19th St NW
• Washington, DC 20036
• 38.886706
• -77.001456