Washington DC meeting announcement

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

       THE WHITE COLLAR CRIME COMMITTEE
  AND THE GOVERNMENT  LITIGATION COUNSEL 
COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
                          
                          
             Present a Luncheon Program:




            CRIMINAL LAW IN CYBERSPACE:  
SOFTWARE PIRACY AND THE LaMACCHIA CASE


               Date:    March 6, 1995


SYNOPSIS:  


     With the growth of global digital telecommunication net-
works, the need for new and adequate legal protection for copy-
righted material has become apparent.  The recent dismissal, before 
trial, of the government's prosecution in United States v. David
LaMacchia, by a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts,
demonstrates the difficulties inherent in applying old concepts of
property rights to emerging technology.  


     This luncheon program will examine the LaMacchia case in
depth, and will address the questions of what this prosecution was
about; why the indictment was dismissed before trial; whether the
criminal copyright statutes can be rewritten to criminalize
LaMacchia's actions; and, perhaps more importantly, whether these
statutes should be rewritten to make such actions criminal.


SPEAKERS:


     Three speakers will participate in the panel discussion, each
being a noted expert in his or her field.  These speakers are:


Mike Godwin, the On-Line Legal Counsel for the Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF).  Mr. Godwin has been with EFF since its
inception, and has acted as a spokesman for the defense of the civil
liberties of computer users since the advent of telecommunications
networks as a commercial medium.


Sandra Sellers, the Director of Litigation for the Software Publishers
Association (SPA).  Among her duties with the SPA, she serves as a
legislative counsel, and will comment on potential amendments to the
criminal copyright laws in order to further the protection of authors
and corporate software designers.


Mark D. Rasch, a criminal defense attorney and civil litigator with
the Washington, D.C. law firm of Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn. 
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Rasch served as a trial attorney
with the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department Justice, and conducted
the prosecution of the Robert T. Morris "Internet Worm" case.




     The panel will be co-moderated by Andrew Grosso, Chair of
the ABA Subcommittee on Computer Crime and a former Assistant
U.S. Attorney; and Darryl Jackson, an attorney with Arnold and
Porter and Co-Chair of the ABA Government Litigation Counsel
Committee.


LOCATION: Offices of the American Bar Association
          Criminal Justice Section
          1800 M Street, N.W. 
          Washington, D.C. 20036




COSTS:    - With Lunch provided by the ABA: $15.00
               - With brown bag lunch brought by the attendee: 
                 No Charge
               - Refreshments will be provided


RESERVATIONS REQUIRED by Thursday, March 2.  


CONTACT:       Sherrill Klein, Staff Director of the ABA Criminal
                             Justice Section
                       1800 M Street, N.W. 
                        Washington, D.C. 20036
                        (202) 331-2260