The Program on Economics & Privacy (PEP) at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School invites applications for an Early-Stage Research Panel on the Law & Economics of Digital Information Policy.

The PEP is soliciting academics to present early stage research ideas on the law and economics of digital information policy during a program held in Naples, Florida from January 28-31, 2021. These panels are designed to provide constructive feedback to authors at the initial stage of a research project from a group of leading academics and practitioners from private practice, industry, and government.

TOPICS
PEP is interested in projects on privacy, data security, consumer protection, and telecommunications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, those that consider specifically the application or intersection of economics with:

• The relationship between data-driven advertising and competition.
• The relationship between data-driven advertising and online content creation and quality.
• Ad-supported online media and equity of access.
• First Amendment issues related to privacy regulation.
• Measuring harms from data breach.
• Measuring subjective privacy harms.
• Privacy harms and standing in federal courts after Spokeo.
• The relationship between privacy and competition policy.
• Consumer protection policy surrounding fake reviews and influencers.
• Democracy and social media.
• Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  PEP will consider both economic research and legal research with an economic component.

SUBMISSIONS
Please submit an extended abstract of the initial stage research you would intend to present by November 20, 2020. Selections will be made by December 1, 2020.

LOGISTICS
Selected authors will be expected to take part as discussants in a research roundtable held in conjunction with this program, where several later-stage draft papers, on topics surrounding the law & economics of digital information policy, will be presented.

Selected authors will receive lodging for the three nights with arrival on January 28 and departure on January 31, 2021 in Naples, Florida, and a $1,000 honorarium (from which you will cover your own travel and incidental expenses).

PEP will host a welcome reception and dinner for selected early-stage research project presenters and paper authors on the night of January 28, 2021, and a closing reception and dinner on January 30, 2021. Guests will depart on January 31.

For any additional questions, please contact Amanda Olsavsky Hu ([email protected]). 

On July 2nd, James Cooper, Director of the Law and Economic Center’s Program on Economics and Privacy interviewed FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips.

Listen in to the Law & Economics Center’s podcast series, The Marketplace of Ideas, to hear Cooper and Phillips discuss a range of issues currently facing the Federal Trade Commission, including the FTC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to the intersection between privacy and antitrust.

Click here to watch the full video recording of the event. 

On April 27, 2020 James Cooper submitted joint testimony on the “State of Competition in the Digital Marketplace” before the US House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. Director Cooper submitted the testimony with John Yun and Joshua D. Wright.

“Conflation of antitrust and privacy policy should be avoided because the extent to which privacy serves as a dimension of competition is unclear and data collection can support higher quality products benefiting consumers.”

You can read Cooper’s testimony here.

On Monday, September 30 2019 PEP Director James Cooper spoke on a panel during the Law & Economics Center’s Symposium on the Law & Economics of Consumer Protection. Cooper sat on Panel 2 “Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission: The Economics of Privacy and Consumer Data Protection” of the Symposium. The panel included Roslyn Layton, Justin Brookman and Andrew Stivers and was moderated by Judge Maryellen Noreika.

Listen to the pilot episode of the Law & Economics Center’s podcast series, The Marketplace of Ideas, to hear the full recording of the panel.