Aaron Perzanowski, J.D. – Professor of Law

Dear Colleagues:

On December 14, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal its 2015 “Net Neutrality” regulations on internet service providers.

Those regulations had prohibited blocking (providers blocking lawful websites or apps), throttling (slowing the transmission of lawful data), and paid prioritization (creating an internet fast lane for companies that pay extra, or the provider’s own content, and so putting other content in the “slow lane”). Repeal was highly controversial with about 22 million comments submitted as part of the “Notice and Comment” formal process. Most were real. And, as an alleged threat to internet access, it attracted a lot of attention from CWRU students.

One side claims the regulations discouraged investment that would improve web access. The other claims repeal favors big businesses and will allow the internet to look more like cable TV – with extra charges for the “best” content. Others claim that the dream of a “democratic” internet is already dead, as giant corporations dominate both content (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google) and connections (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum), and the business model of websites like CNN and ESPN makes it harder and harder to avoid irritating advertising. And others ask, if “Net Neutrality” is so important, how did we do without regulation before 2015?

With so many questions, we need a legal scholar to parse them out. So we will gladly welcome Professor Perzanowski to explain…

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Aaron Perzanowski teaches courses in intellectual property, telecommunications and innovation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Previously, he taught at Wayne State University Law School, as a lecturer at the University of California Berkeley School of Information, and as a visitor at the University of Notre Dame Law School. Prior to his teaching career, he served as the Microsoft Research Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and practiced law at Fenwick & West in Silicon Valley.

His research addresses topics ranging from digital copyright to deceptive advertising to creative norms within the tattoo industry. With Jason Schultz, he is the author of The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy (MIT Press 2016), which argues for retaining consumer property rights in a marketplace that increasingly threatens them. His book with Kate Darling, Creativity Without Law: Challenging the Assumptions of Intellectual Property (NYU Press 2017), explores the ways communities of creators operate outside of formal intellectual property law.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

March 9: Law Enforcement and the Opioid Crisis. With Daniel Flannery Ph.D., Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education.

March 16: Spring Break

March 23: Alzheimer’s: From Care to Cure and Back. With Peter Whitehouse, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology. ***Alternate Location: Zverina Room of the Dittrick Medical History Center, 3rd floor of the Allen Memorial Library, 11000 Euclid Ave.***

March 30: Panama and Paradise: What Have We Learned from the “Papers,” and Will It Make Any Difference? With Richard Gordon J.D., Professor of Law and Director, Financial Integrity Institute.

April 6: Income Inequality Among Seniors, At Home and Abroad. With Terry Hokenstad Jr. Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, and Emily Campbell M.A., Associate Director, Center for Community Solutions.

April 13: TBA

April 20: People and Property. With Peter Gerhart J.D., Professor and Dean Emeritus, School of Law.

April 27: Two Sides of Brexit. With Elliot Posner Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, and Luke Reader Ph.D., SAGES Lecturer.