Program Agenda

Click here for a PDF of the 2010 Spring Meeting Agenda.

Thursday, April 15

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Confessions of a Virtual Shopaholic—Legal Traps for the Unwary in the World of E-Commerce
Regulatory; Corporate Counsel; Business/Transactional; Young Lawyers, Antitrust Law mini-track

Online shopping has exploded in popularity, primarily because it makes consumers’ lives easier, but online commerce also raises a host of complex legal issues that can leave corporate counsel “putting out fires” in multiple jurisdictions. Limited international consensus on these issues makes advising companies even more difficult. A panel of international experts from both government and the private sector will provide insights and strategies on a variety of issues raised by selling goods on the internet, such as exclusivity and territorial restrictions, pricing and misleading advertising issues, addressing counterfeit goods, credit card fraud and privacy concerns.

Sponsoring Committees:
International Antitrust Committee, Information Service Technology Committee

Moderator and Program Chair:
Mark Katz, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Speakers:
Lesley Fair, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC
Jacqueline Klosek, Goodwin Procter LLP, New York, NY
Paul Schoff, Minter Ellison, Sydney, Australia

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Technology and Innovation: Regulation in the High-Tech Economy
Regulatory; Corporate Counsel; Antitrust Law mini-track

What would we do without Blackberrys or iPhones? They function as alarm clocks, music players, time keepers, telephones, address books, and calendars. They are used to connect to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. But what if these toys were taken away by regulators? They wouldn’t dare; or would they? Google, Apple/iTunes, Facebook, Microsoft and RIM have all been the subject of regulatory scrutiny in many parts of the world to determine if their business practices offend competition, privacy and copyright laws. This scrutiny has involved, among other things, hiring practices, various types of joint venture/outsourcing agreements, as well as pricing and distribution practices. This panel will consider from a multijurisdictional and multidisciplinary perspective analyze whether such regulatory intervention is beneficial or whether it is inhibiting innovation and imposing a significant and detrimental cost on information technology companies.

Sponsoring Committees:
International Antitrust Committee, Information Services, Technology and Data Protection Committee, International Intellectual Property Committee

Moderator and Program Chair:
Elisa Kearney, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Speakers:
Leah Brannon, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Washington, DC
Per Hellström, European Commission, DG Competition, Brussels, Belgium
Stephen Mortinger, IBM Systems & Technology Group, New York, NY
Kevin Yingling, Google Inc., New York, NY

Friday, April 16

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast at the Bar: Google Book Search - Will it Change Book Publishing, Copyrights and Class Actions?
Regulatory; Antitrust Law Mini-track

Google Book Search is an unprecedented project to scan and index millions of books in the collections of major university libraries. A class action by some authors and publishers alleges that the project constitutes a massive copyright infringement. A settlement of the litigation may enable the project not just to continue but also to expand into making books themselves available for online purchase, but it also arguably turns copyright law and class actions on their heads. The Google Books settlement raises concerns from many about potential price fixing among publishers, a possible Google monopoly over orphan works, and implications for copyright policy and privacy, as well as questions about the appropriate use of class actions. A distinguished speaker will share his intensive analysis of the Google Book Search and litigation and their implications for copyright and class actions during this breakfast roundtable, building on the discussion on the program “Technology and Innovation: Regulation in the High-Tech Economy” (Thursday, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.).

Sponsoring Committees:
International Antitrust Law Committee, International Intellectual Property Law Committee, Canada Committee, China Committee, Mexico Committee, Middle East Committee

Moderator and Program Chair:
Yee Wah Chin, Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti, New York, NY

Speaker:
James Grimmelmann, New York Law School, New York, NY

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Obamanomics: The Economic Underpinnings of the New Administration
Regulatory; International Trade/Customs; Antitrust Law mini-track

President Obama’s administration has taken a new approach to issues in the areas of antitrust law, international trade and financial regulation. This program will examine the economic underpinnings of these developments in a discussion with economists and lawyers both within and outside the administration. Panelists will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the changes introduced by the new administration.

Sponsoring Committees:
International Antitrust Law Committee, International Financial Products and Services Committee, International Trade Committee

Program Chairs:
Fiona A. Schaeffer, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, NY
David A. Schwartz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY

Moderators:
Robert L. Brown, Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald PLLC, Louisville, KY
Matthew R. Nicely, Thompson Hine LLP, Washington, DC

Speakers:
Bradford L. Ward, Deputy General Counsel, Office of the US Trade Representative, Washington, DC
Dr. Chester Spatt, Center for Financial Markets, Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business; Former Chief Economist and Director, Office of Economic Analysis, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Pittsburgh, PA
Kevin J. Stiroh, Research and Statistics Group, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, NY
Terry Calvani, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Washington, DC

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Who Does Competition Law Protect — Competitors or Consumers?
Regulatory; Corporate Counsel; Business/Transactional; International Trade/Customs; Antitrust Law mini-track

Competition laws have been enacted by countries all over the world. Ideally, competition laws seek to protect the competitive process in order to protect consumers. The role of competitor complaints in investigations can present potentially vexing problems as competitors sometimes complain about pro-competitive transactions and conduct rather than anticompetitive ones. This panel will address the main objectives of the competition laws in the U.S., European Union, China and Brazil, analyzing whether recent leading merger and abuse of dominance cases can fairly be characterized as enhancing consumer welfare or can be criticized for seeking to protect competitors.

Sponsoring Committees:
International Antitrust Law Committee, International Corporate Counsel Committee, International Trade Committee, China Committee, Europe Committee, Latin America and Caribbean Committee

Moderator and Program Chair:
Alfredo M. O’Farrell, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Speaker and Program Chair:
Michael H. Byowitz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York, NY

Speakers:
Claire Jeffs, Slaughter and May, London, United Kingdom
Susan Ning, King & Wood, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Barbara Rosenberg, Barbosa Musnich & Aragão, Advogados, São Paulo, Brazil