Public Policy/Government RelationsTechnology & Intellectual Property LawMusic Licensing, Other Copyright IssuesFirst Amendment / Article 19AI/ML Content & Privacy PolicyEmployee Work Visa / Residency Digital Privacy, including GDPRC-Level and Board Level Legal AdviceInternational Internet LawTechnology Ethics: Theory & Practice

Internet Law and Policy ExpertI provide legal and strategic services and advice for U.S. and international NGOs working to implement forward-looking law and policy that promote internet-based economic development, democracy, and human rights. I also represent individual clients on employment law, immigration law, and other matters.

Represented and refined policy goals for a startup privacy-enhancing-technologies (PETs) company, founded full-time DC public-policy office, built and expanded regular relationships with legislators and legislative staff, privacy-advocacy organizations, and privacy-focused trade groups.Drafted and designed “pitch deck” for public-policy stakeholders new to PETs-based privacy enhancement (designed to prevent reconstruction of anonymized identity info by AI/ML tech), wrote and edited policy documents, including presentations, to build and expand Anonym’s reputation as a “privacy-first” technology company.Staffed Anonym leaders at DC meeting, prepped key witness in a House Commerce Committee privacy hearing in support of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, drove and sharpened Anonym’s pro-privacy messaging and brand-building as a PETs leader.

Led cross-functional initiative to revise and update anti-bullying content and behavior policy for both AI/ML and human moderation. Established global escalation POC, and coordinated global team in innovating and refining scalable policies and interventions addressing bullying and harassment. Originated new department-wide strategic initiative to improve accuracy, effectiveness, and user and creator empowerment to reduce harassment and bullying for “live” content. Initiated and directed cross-functional engagement with Public Policy, Product, Operations, Legal, and Communications teams to improve content policies as well as detection and enforcement.

Elected as trustee to the Internet Society Board of Trustees in April 2019. Served until January 2022. “The Internet Society supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society.” https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/. As a Trustee, guided top-level governance and pro-diversity policy initiatives for globally focused nonprofit with annual revenue of approx. $40-$50 million.

• Researched telecommunications policy and draft positions on legislative and regulatory issues. Devise and implement policies to advance the organization’s objectives. Supervised legal program focusing on telecommunications policy, technological innovation, freedom of expression, privacy, rule of law, copyright, patent law, and internet policy, relating to consumer-access issues.• Met with members of Congress and Congressional and federal-agency staff on a full range of internet-policy and technology issues, including telephony and internet surveillance, copyright, network neutrality, and consumer protection and privacy. This included making presentations and answering questions from members and staff at Hill briefings or other public events.• Built technology-policy and legal program focusing on promoting technological innovation, freedom of expression, privacy, rule of law, and international internet policy, including policy work in the European Union, in India, and in Southeast Asia, relating to zero rating, and access issues.• Represented public-policy think tank in meetings with members of Congress and Congressional and federal-agency staff on a full range of internet-policy and technology issue, including surveillance reform, music copyright, network neutrality, and consumer protection and privacy.• Authored policy pieces and legal analyses both for popular audiences and for policymakers.

• Guided implementation and grant-making for GIPP capacity-building project, advising local policy/advocacy efforts in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. • Reviewed and advising sub-grant programs of local partner organizations in 15 target countries including the Philippines, South Sudan, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, and Pakistan. Traveling internationally to visit and advise some local partners.• Promoted greater collaboration with relevant organizations in the internet-freedom sector.• Researched and developed new partnerships and funding opportunities for other ongoing or prospective Internews in-country projects, with a focus on ICT policy.

I think about privacy a lot, and sometimes Privacy International has asked me what I think.

Focused primarily on promoting productive contracts and resolving potential contract disputes.

Advising Wikimedia Foundation and other internet and publishing enterprises on a wide range of legal and policy issues, including media and legal responses to emerging cases and statutes.Worked to implement successful Wikipedia strategy, including government-relations strategy, challenging Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) legislation.

General counsel for Wikimedia Foundation, the overseeing organization for Wikipedia and other collaborative Internet projects. Established and directed legal department and public-policy strategies for non-profit organization that operated Wikipedia and other international online resources. As legal department manager, negotiated leases, service contracts, and licensing contracts. Oversaw outside counsel and law clerks in litigation and public-policy messaging. Defined and refined privacy, trademark, and copyright strategies, litigation responses, and policies for legislation and cases to ensure the successful operation of WMF in the US and abroad. KEY RESULTS:Engineered legal framework for organizational growth from 10 employees to more than 200 employees by building a high-performance legal team and implementing personnel policies.Safeguarded annual revenue growth from $2M to $20M by preventing lawsuits, avoiding bad contract terms, and increasing regulatory compliance.

Provided legal services and advice relating to general startup matters, with a focus on employment and immigration law, intellectual property, and rationalizing capital structure.

Advised non-profit legal resource for student journalists.

Advised non-profit focused on promoting and standardizing open-source software licenses.

• Supervised and mentored student research projects involving law and technology policy. • Advised Privacy, Obligations & Rights in Technologies of Information Assessment (PORTIA) project.• Researched and wrote guide for American Library Association on digital-rights-management issues, and authored position paper on network neutrality. • Chaired program committee for Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2006, a public-policy conference.

• Conducted full-time advocacy for nonprofit group focused on ensuring technology and information access and other rights for consumers. Directed all legal programs. Supervised legal staff, interns.• Developed and presented policy positions on critical technology access issues to Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, government agencies, industry, consumer groups.• Organized successful lobbying effort and lawsuit benefiting consumers and the computer industry against film industry’s “broadcast flag” scheme to control consumer-product design.

• Provided technology and legal expertise on constitutional law, criminal law, and criminal procedure. • Analyzed computer-crime and wiretap statutes, including USA-PATRIOT Act anti-terrorist legislation. • Commented in the media on encryption, First Amendment law, privacy, copyright, and civil liberties. • Represented CDT at conferences on constitutional law, criminal law, criminal procedure, and privacy. • Organized critical response to Council of Europe’s International Cybercrime Convention.

Researched and wrote news articles and columns relating to the law industry, with a particular focus on electronic commerce, Internet law, and intellectual-property law.

• Created Legal Department and initiated policy and advocacy positions for leading civil liberties and technology organization. Supervised law clerks and interns. • Developed policy on evolving technology issues such as electronic searches and seizures, First • Developed legal theories, originated, and supervised the Supreme Court case, Reno v. ACLU (1997) addressing the First Amendment’s applicability to the Internet. • Advised users of electronic networks about their legal rights and responsibilities.• Conducted seminars on digital civil liberties and privacy for criminal lawyers and law-enforcement. • Co-drafted report of the Massachusetts Computer Crime Commission, adopted in March 1993.

Top editor and chief manager of the student newspaper at the University of Texas. Directed overall news coverage and editorial page of award-winning student newspaper.

Learned microcomputers and commercial software, inside and out, while selling and supporting microcomputer systems at the onset of the computer revolution.

Learned dBase II, multiple micro operating systems, and used this expertise to manage conversion of client data among various word-processing and database formats.