Michael Geist ~ Closing Keynote Speaker

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Dr. Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He has obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees from Cambridge University in the UK and Columbia Law School in New York, and a Doctorate in Law (J.S.D.) from Columbia Law School.
Dr. Geist has written numerous academic articles and government reports on the Internet and law and was a member of Canada’s National Task Force on Spam. He is an internationally syndicated columnist on technology law issues with his regular column appearing in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and the BBC.

Dr. Geist is the editor of In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law, published in 2005 by Irwin Law, the editor of several monthly technology law publications, and the author of a popular blog on Internet and intellectual property law issues. Dr. Geist serves on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Expert Advisory Board, on the Canadian Digital Information Strategy’s Review Panel, the Electronic Frontier Foundation Advisory Board, and on the Information Program Sub-Board of the Open Society Institute. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Les Fowlie Award for Intellectual Freedom from the Ontario Library Association in 2009, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2008, Canarie’s IWAY Public Leadership Award for his contribution to the development of the Internet in Canada and he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2003.

Sue Gardner ~ Opening Keynote Speaker

Generously sponsored by

Sue Gardner is Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit charitable organization that operates Wikipedia and nine other free-knowledge wikis. Wikimedia operates the largest collaboratively-edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia, one of the world’s 10-most-popular sites. Since her arrival at Wikimedia, Gardner has introduced major initiatives focused on
organizational maturity, long-term sustainability, and increased participation, reach, and quality of the Foundation’s free-knowledge projects.

She was formerly head of CBC.CA, the internet platform for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s radio, TV, and new media public broadcaster and the nation’s largest journalistic organization. Under her leadership, CBC.CA experienced a historic audience surge and launched many new major multimedia technologies, including podcasting, breaking news alerts, live event blogging, and many forms of user interaction.

Since beginning her career in 1990 at the now-classic radio program As It Happens, Gardner has worked in all
forms of media to create high-quality, award-winning programming. As a journalist, she specialized in pop
culture, social issues and media analysis, covering stories such as manipulation of the news media during the
first Gulf War, the rise of gated communities in California, the racial implications of the return of the death penalty
to New York, changing feminist attitudes towards pornography, the dawn of interactive media, and the rise and
fall of rave culture in the UK.

Gardner is a member of the Online News Association, the Society for News Design, Women in Film and
Television, the Canadian Association of Journalists and Canadian Women In Communications.