Contents of Virtual Symposia Section

This conference, which took place at Stanford Law School on April 20, 2002, was a forum to discuss the concepts of fair use, free speech, copyright control, and government enforcement in the digital age.

Organized by the Stanford Law & Technology Association (SLATA), the Stanford Entertainment & Sports Law Association (SESLA), and STLR.

For video of the conference panels, click here.


	This symposium, which took place at Stanford Law School on February 7, 2000, examined the future of privacy in a world in which technological innovation is drawing new boundaries for what is secret, personal, and confidential. Four panels of leading scholars, national policymakers, and Silicon Valley practitioners discussed the legal and policy ramifications of the Internet's potential to invade the rights, security and autonomy of the individual. How should the law respond to the rise of information brokers and identity fraud over the World Wide Web? To the private ownership of rights held by the recording industry to music that can be pirated on the Internet? To the collection and exchange of personal information for purposes of marketing without prior consent? Our fourth virtual symposium, Cyberspace and Privacy: A New Legal Paradigm?, addresses these questions. Presented jointly by the Stanford Law Review, the Stanford Technology Law Review, and the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology.

	New technology is producing a revolution in the monitoring of both public and (formerly) private places. For example, a growing number of surveillance cameras monitor public streets, private stores, even daycare centers. Some of these cameras and the data they produce are owned by governments; others are owned by private security companies, store owners, or concerned parents. Sensors record the identity of cars or drivers to control traffic, monitor speeding, or set prices for tolls. Similar devices may soon allow consumers to purchase gasoline and other products without having to produce a credit card or other form of payment. Meanwhile, some individuals are choosing to live their lives on camera, focusing Internet-enabled "cams" on their offices, living rooms, and even bedrooms. These sensors and the data they collect raise two sets of critical issues: (1) Who will or should have access to the data streams produced by these cameras and other sensors? (2) What implications might these developments have for our legal and social ideas and concepts about privacy in public and private areas, for our reasonable expectations of privacy, for our traditional restraints on law enforcement, and for our human relations in general? Our third virtual symposium, The Walls Have Eyes (and Ears and Telescopic Lenses): Privacy and Computer-Mediated Surveillance, addresses these and other important questions.

	How has intellectual property evolved in today's industries? What is the impact of contemporary patent law on competition, innovation, industry structure and strategy? What are the implications for these industries? These questions are addressed by experts in a variety of industries: the airplane industry, the chemical industry, the biotechnology industry, the photographic film and camera industry, and the computer industry. Their works are collected in our second virtual symposium, entitled Intellectual Property and Industry Competitive Standards, which tackles the legal debate surrounding intellectual property and antitrust law.

	"Immortality," "Master Race," "Organ Farming," "Playing God" Ever since Dr. Wilmut announced the success of his provocative new cloning method for sheep, the media has been bandying about these science-run-amok bogeymen. Yet, what does the cloning of Dolly from an adult sheep really signal? Will there be a race to clone humans? If so, to what end? Our first "Virtual Symposium," Cloning Sheep: Cloning People?, captures the reactions of a distinguished panel of experts to this provocative event.