Understanding Atlanta's "Cop City" Training Center Controversy

Atlanta's new Public Safety Training Center has been dubbed "Cop City" by opponents who see the Center as a threat to the environment and a road to increased police militarization. What are the benefits and risks of such a center, and are the police truly accountable to the community?

José Martín, Scott M. Jones (moderator)

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Social Media Marketing for Entrepreneurs, Authors, and Content Creators

Tips, tricks, and advice for entrepreneurs, authors, and independent content creators to navigate Twitter, Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. We will take a brief look at the various platforms for project promotion, and examine the common themes for maximizing engagement.

James Nettles, Gail Z. Martin (moderator), Andrew Greenberg

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Age Limits for Social Media

Psychological harms and other harms of social media are now more well understood. Politicians are now proposing age limits for social media, but is this the best way to address the harms? What about freedom of speech, both for young people and the platforms they use? Do youth have rights?

Dwayne Goetzel (moderator), James Nettles, Hayley Tsukayama, Amie Stepanovich

San Francisco Votes to Approve Killer Robots, Then Reverses Course

Robot dogs for the police can yield deadly force and also have unintended consequences. After pushback from the community, San Francisco rescinded a vote to purchase robot police dogs. Why are police interested in this kind of technology, and what are the concerns of opponents?

Bill Budington

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

EARN-IT and the STOP CSAM Act

Originally designed to protect children, these bills may go too far by undermining our free speech and privacy rights, along with weakening Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, whose protections made social media possible.

Dwayne Goetzel, Meredith Filak Rose, Corynne McSherry, Kurt Opsahl (moderator)

Copyright and AI

AI has created copyright conundrums: Are works, words, and images created by Artificial Intelligence copyrightable? If so, who owns the copyrights? Do human creators have a remedy if their works are used as one of the millions or billions of data points in a generative model?

Rich Gatz, Courtney Lytle, James Nettles, Corynne McSherry, TJ Mihill (moderator)

Ransomware Attacks on Small Businesses

While larger organizations have tightened their security, small businesses continue to be a target for ransomware, which holds computer data hostage and demands payment for its release. Given their limited resources, what steps can small businesses take to protect themselves?

Rich Gatz, Luca Grippa, Bill Budington

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Hacking 101

Hacking 101 returns for another glorious year! Just what is a hacker anyway? Culture, history, contacts, resources, and pointers for more info.

Dustin Smith (moderator), Todd Grady, Kurt Opsahl, Jonny x, Jesse Roberts, Andrew Hirsch, Isaac Sheff

Marriott Room A601-602, Attendance: TBD

Mastodon, The Fediverse, and ActivityPub

The future of social media is federated! Or is it? Decentralized administration of social media allows like-minded groups to set their own rules and policies for their group, thus increasing freedom and flexibility for diverse groups with differing needs. How well is this vision working out?

Bill Budington, James Nettles

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

ATSC 3.0: DRM For Free Over-the-Air TV?

A new standard that provides for 4K TV "over the air" may also be a trojan horse for an unwelcome addition, digital rights management. Why do we really need DRM for content that is openly broadcast anyway, and what are we losing with this new protection regime?

Meredith Filak Rose, Corynne McSherry

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Copyright 101

How does copyright work? Do you have to register to protect your rights? Can you do it yourself, or do you need an attorney? What do you do if you discover infringement of your own copyright?

Courtney Lytle

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

The Honeymoon is Over for Social Media

With inflation, higher interest rates, tax law changes, social media fatigue, and politicized takeovers, platforms that once seemed like indomitable forces of nature now look vulnerable. Is this the beginning of the end of social media, or just a changing of the guard as new platforms emerge?

Dwayne Goetzel, Hayley Tsukayama, Amie Stepanovich

What Does Title IX Say About Trans Students in Sports?

Equality rights for transsexual youth became a divisive political topic, but our mainstay for equal opportunities in sports has been Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. What does Title IX actually say, and how is the Biden administration interpreting the law with respect to trans rights?

Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, TJ Mihill

The Legality and Constitutionality of Banning TikTok

Due to perceived threats from Chinese ownership, politicians are banning TikTok on state-owned networks and devices. Now outright bans for all devices and networks are being proposed. What freedom of speech rights does TikTok have, and is there really a "smoking gun" showing a legitimate threat?

Corynne McSherry, Ron Daniels, Kurt Opsahl

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Shifting Cybersecurity Liability to Vendors and Suppliers

Security breaches via the "supply chain" have become frequent. What obligations do supply chain vendors have to protect their upstream customers, and what liabilities should be imposed? Can a vendor truly anticipate all potential attacks? Does certification such as "SOC 2 Compliance" truly help?

James Nettles, Rich Gatz (moderator), Luca Grippa, Bill Budington

Right to Repair Update

Political momentum for a "right to repair" is growing, with bills in over 20 states, a few of which have passed into law. We will provide an update on the goals of this movement and the status of recently passed and newly pending legislation.

Meredith Filak Rose, Hayley Tsukayama

Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD

Using LLM's and Generative AI's for Gaming and Creative Works

Far from being a threat, Large Language Models and Generative AI can be a new wellspring of creative output if used reasonably and responsibly. How can these new tools be used to create value, and what safeguards need to be in place?

James Nettles (moderator), James Ashley, Andrew Greenberg, Michelle Davis

Hacking 201

Q&A from our panel of experts; play “Stump the Hacker”!

Dustin Smith (moderator), Rich Gatz, Todd Grady, Bill Budington, Jonny x, Jesse Roberts