WASHINGTON, Thursday, November 15^th, 2012 — The internet policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com will hold its November 2012 Broadband Breakfast Club event “The International Telecommunications Union and the Global Open Internet” on Tuesday, November 20th, 2012 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 8 am – 10 am. American and Continental breakfasts are included. The program begins shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tickets to the event are $45.00 plus a small online fee.

Registration is available at http://broadbandbreakfast.eventbrite.com

The Broadband Breakfast Club is sponsored by Comcast, Google, ICF International (ICFI), The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and US Telecom.

The Broadband Breakfast Club series meets on the third Tuesday of each month (except for August and December).

The Broadband Breakfast Club schedule can be viewed at

http://broadbandbreakfastseries.eventbrite.com

Read our website for broadband news and event write-ups

http://www.broadbandbreakfast.com

Videos of our previous events are available at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/category/broadband-tv/ 

Keynote Speaker:

Mindel De La Torre, Chief, International Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

Since October 2009, Mindel De La Torre has been Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  In that role, she leads the FCC’s efforts internationally – both on a bilateral and multilateral basis.  She oversees the International Bureau’s functions with regard to licensing of international and domestic satellites, international long distance, international broadcast stations, and submarine cables.  Ms. De La Torre was previously at the FCC between 1994-1998 as Deputy Chief of the Telecommunications Division of the International Bureau.  Before returning to the FCC, she was president of the Telecommunications Management Group, Inc. (TMG), a consulting firm in the Washington DC area. She has been a member of various U.S. delegations to ITU conferences, such as World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC), World Telecommunication Development Conferences, and Plenipotentiary Conferences.  She has also participated actively in regional telecommunications organizations, such as CITEL and APEC. Ms. De La Torre also worked at the Department of Commerce – for over four years at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and for three years in the General Counsel’s office. Ms. De La Torre has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Texas.

 Panelists:  

Fiona Alexander, Associate Administrator, Office of International Affairs, National Telecommunicationsa and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce 

In her role as Associate Administrator for International Affairs, Ms. Alexander oversees and manages NTIA’s activities related to the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) as well as NTIA’s involvement in international ICT bilateral and multilateral discussions in venues such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications Working Group (APEC TEL), the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization  (ITSO), and, the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO).  She is also a key member of the Department’s Internet Policy Task Force providing strategic guidance with respect to online privacy, copyright protection, and cybersecurity, and co-leading the work on the global free flow of information. Ms. Alexander was NTIA’s lead negotiator for issues related to Internet Governance in the context of the UN World Summit on the Information Society as well as the Affirmation of Commitments with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  In addition, she was a key member of the U.S. team that worked on the OECD’s Internet Policy Making Principles. Prior joining NTIA, Ms. Alexander was a Senior Consultant at Booz, Allen & Hamilton.  She has a Masters Degree in International Relations from American University, Washington, D.C. 

Gary Fowlie, Head, International Telecommunications Union Liaison Office, United Nations

Gary Fowlie has been the head of the Liaison office of the International Telecommunication Union to the United Nations since 2009. ITU is the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology.  Mr. Fowlie is an Economist and Journalist. He was a Producer/Reporter for the news service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for 10 years and a freelance reporter for The Economist. Prior to joining the International Telecommunication Union in 2001, Mr. Fowlie worked as an Account Director for the technology practice of the global consulting firm Hill and Knowlton. His clients included Microsoft, SAP and many others. Mr. Fowlie was responsible for communications for the UN World Summit on the Information Society (2003 and 2005) and from 2005 until 2009 was the Chief of Media Liaison for the United Nations in New York. Mr. Fowlie is a graduate of the Universities of Alberta, Alabama and the London School of Economics. 

Emma Llansó, Policy Counsel, Center for Democracy & Technology

As Policy Counsel at CDT, Emma works on free expression policy with both the domestic Free Expression team and the Project on Global Internet Freedom. Emma earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2009 and her B.A. in anthropology summa cum laude from the University of Delaware in 2006.  She has been admitted to the New York State Bar. Llanso joined Center for Democracy & Technology in 2009 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by the Bruce J. Ennis Foundation.  Her fellowship project focused on analyzing legislative, regulatory, and policy proposals aimed at addressing online child safety and privacy concerns for their potential impact on free expression online.  This project involved the full range of CDT’s domestic free expression policy work, which includes amicus activity in First Amendment cases, defending Internet intermediary liability protections in the U.S. and abroad, and advocating for user-empowerment tools and digital media literacy for minors.

Ross Schulman, Public Policy & Regulatory Counsel, Computer and Communications Industry Association 

Ross Schulman is Public Policy and Regulatory Counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association.  He was previously with the Center for Democracy and Technology as a program manager handling consumer privacy and information security issues.  While there he managed the Anti-Spyware Coalition in developing industry standard definitions and best practices for consumer and business computer security.  In the course of eight years living in Washington DC, he has also spent time working in both the Senate, for Senator Ron Wyden and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House of Representatives for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He received his Juris Doctorate degree magna cum laude from American University and his bachelors degree in computer science from Brandeis University.

Moderator:  

Joshua Philipp is a staff reporter and technology editor for The Epoch Times where he specializes in features and investigative reporting. He is the also Chief Editor at TechZwn.com, an independent news source for gaming and technology. 

Background on BroadbandBreakfast.com

BroadbandBreakfast.com is in its fourth year of hosting monthly breakfast forums in Washington on internet policy issues. These events are on the record, open to the public and consider a wide range of viewpoints. Our Broadband Breakfast Club meets on the third tuesday of every month (except for August and December). Our elected official keynotes have included Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D- CA), John Conyers (D-MI), Diane Watson (D-CA), Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rick Boucher (D- VA).

Our agency and commission official keynotes have included Deputy Undersecretary for Agriculture Dallas Tonsager, Julius Genachowski, Chairman FCC; Jonathan Adelstein, RUS Administrator; Julie Brill, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission, Anna Gomez, Deputy Assistant Secretary NTIA; FCC Wireline Competition Bureau Chief, Sharon Gillette, FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief, Rick Kaplan; Tony Wilhelm, BTOP Director, NTIA; Ari Schwartz, Senior Internet Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce; Nick Sinai, Senior Innovation Advisor to the US Chief Technology Officer.

Our panels are comprised of leaders from a wide variety of organizations including government, industry, law firms, academia, nonprofit, journalism and many others. Our audiences are equally diverse. The keynote speech is followed by a moderated panel discussion in which audience participation is encouraged.

For More Information Contact:

Sylvia Syracuse, Director of Marketing and Events BroadbandBreakfast.com, Sylvia@broadbandcensus.com, 646-262-4630