Wikimedia District of Columbia

in partnership with

The Washington European Society

&

The Estonian Embassy in Washington

invite you to

 

Internet Freedom & Open Government

An International Conversation

Featuring

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Chairman Marko Mihkelson

Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament

Rebecca MacKinnon

Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation

Panel Moderated By

Adam Kushner

Deputy Editor, National Journal

 

April 25, 2012

5:00 PM Discussion

6:00 PM Reception

 Space is limited. RSVP required.

Estonian Embassy

2131 Massachusetts Ave NW

Washington, DC 20008

SOPA. PIPA. ACTA. These four-letter acronyms dominated the headlines as thousands of people around the world protested for the right to a free and open internet. Meanwhile, a report by Freedom House, an American NGO, ranked Estonia as the country with the highest level of Internet freedom, and Estonia also ranks on the top of global lists of open and transparent governments. How did Estonia end up on top? What is the status of internet freedom around the world? What are the practices of e-governance  that can foster a transparent, inclusive relationship between citizens and governments? Where does the US stand on these issues, and how do congressional measures, such as the OPEN Act, affect internet freedom in the US? Join Wikimedia District of Columbia, the Washington European Society, and the Estonian Embassy in this discussion on Internet Freedom & Open Government.

 

About the Guests:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the U.S. Representative for California's 49th congressional district, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and member of the House Committee on Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet. He has served in the House of Representatives since 2001. As a prominent opponent of SOPA and PIPA, Congressman Issa, along with 25 co-sponsors, introduced the OPEN Act (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act) in the House as an alternative to SOPA. Suggestions for improvements to the OPEN Act were crowdsourced on keepthewebopen.com.

Marko Mihkelson is Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, the unicameral parliament of Estonia, where he also serves as a Member of the European Union Affairs Committee and Head of the Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Chairman Mihkelson is a recipient of Estonia’s Order of the White Star, 4th class, Knight of the National Order of Merit of France, and Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, among other honors. His articles have been published in several international publications since 1993.

 Rebecca MacKinnon is a Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation and author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom. MacKinnon is a former CNN journalist, having headded the CNN bureaus in Beijing and later in Tokyo.  She later became co-founder of Global Voices Online, an international network of bloggers and citizen journalists. She is on the Board of Directors of the Global Network Initiative and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the Moderator:

Adam Kushner is deputy editor of National Journal magazine.  Prior to National Journal, he served as a senior editor at Newsweek, editing foreign coverage, including major projects such as a Berlin Wall retrospective and coverage of the 2010 World Cup.  Earlier, Kushner covered ideas and trends for the foreign desk as a senior writer.  From 2003 to 2007, Kushner held a variety of positions at The New Republic, including a post as Assistant Managing Editor and, ultimately, Managing Editor/Online. In that role, he managed all aspects of the site and oversaw a relaunch of TNR.com.  Kushner is a graduate of Columbia University, and co-founded both the Columbia Political Review and the Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism during his time there.  He is a native of New Orleans.