Click here to access the program booklet.
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.
Large tech platforms are in the crosshairs of antitrust enforcement. For example, both state and federal enforcers have announced investigations into Facebook and Google, and recently the FTC requested information from all of the major tech platforms on past acquisitions. What is more, the possibility that current antitrust laws may not be up to the task has led to several legislative proposals to reform relevant areas of the law.
Because most of these platforms collect information from consumers, it is not surprising to see data play an increasingly central role in antitrust analysis. The relationship between data and antitrust raises several important issues:
Join the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) and the Program on Economics and Privacy (PEP) on Wednesday, July 22 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM for a discussion with leading experts on these topics and other topics related to the data/antitrust interface.
Featuring:
James C. Cooper, Director, Program on Economics & Privacy; Associate Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University; Former Deputy Director of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Former Acting Director, Office of Policy Planning, FTC
Jamillia Ferris, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Bruce Hoffman, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Former Director, Bureau of Competition, FTC
Michael Kades, Director for Markets and Competition Policy, Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Moderator: John M. Yun, Director of Economic Education, Global Antitrust Institute; Associate Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University.
On Thursday, May 14 our panel of law and public health experts offered some guidance to policymakers working through these complex and pertinent issues.
Featuring:
Jane Bambauer, Professor of Law, The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
Woodrow Hartzog, Professor of Law and Computer Science, Northeastern University School of Law
Daniel Barth-Jones, Assistant Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
Moderator: James Cooper, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy
Click here to listen to the full 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.
On Friday, December 6, 2019 Professor James Cooper moderated a joint program from Law & Economics Center’s Congressional Civil Justice Academy and Program on Economics & Privacy “How Big is Too Big? Big Tech, Antitrust, and Privacy” on Capitol Hill. The panel included John Yun, Charlotte Slaiman, and Bruce Hoffman.
Listen to episode three of the Law & Economics Center’s podcast series, The Marketplace of Ideas, to hear the full recording of the event.
Legal Careers in Privacy Law
On April 15, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School alumni discussed different paths for a legal career in privacy and data security. This live webinar was open to students only.
Featuring:
Julian Flamant, Associate, Hogan Lovells
Khoury DiPrima, Associate, Kelley Drye
Brenda Leong, Senior Counsel and Director of Artificial Intelligence and Ethics, Future of Privacy Forum
Moderator: James Cooper, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy
On Tuesday, December 3 the Program on Economics and Privacy hosted a Public Policy briefing on “Is EU Privacy Regulation Being Exported to the US?”
The EU and the US have distinct approaches to protecting consumer data, but policies like the GDPR and “The Right to Be Forgotten” do not necessarily stop at the border. Empirical evidence suggests that EU privacy regulation has reduced investment in EU tech firms. If EU privacy regulations affect how US companies collect and use consumer data, is there a risk that they also could export any negative economic consequences to the US? Join us for a discussion with leading experts to explore how EU privacy regulation impacts US firms, and what lessons US policymakers should draw from the EU experience.
On Monday, October 21, 2019 PEP Director James Cooper spoke at the Technical Policy Institute’s panel on “Techlash: Is It Real and How to Respond” at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Click here to watch the panel.
Cooper spoke alongside Bruce P. Mehlman, Randal C. Picker, Catherine Tucker, and moderator Thomas M. Lenard.
