Technology, Innovation, and Regulation

Friday, November 15, 2019

How does regulation affect technological innovation? And how does technological innovation affect regulation?

In an era of revolutionary technological changes, regulators must take care to promote the public interest not just by protecting us from harm but also by preserving space for innovation to improve our lives and grow our economy. And technological innovation affects the administrative state itself, by giving new tools to regulators and to the regulated alike.

It is easy to say this in such general terms, but what does this mean in practice? On Nov. 15, 2019, the law school’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State hosted a day-long conference grappling with these questions. Experts discussed new legal scholarship on artificial intelligence, big data, social media, biotech, “regulatory sandboxes,” and more.

Agenda

8:15 – 8:55 am – Registration and Breakfast, Van Metre Hall, Multi-Purpose Room

8:55 – 9:00 am – Welcome, Van Metre Hall Auditorium

Adam White, Executive Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

9:00 – 10:25 am – Panel 1: Should Social Media be Regulated for “Neutrality”?

Adam Candeub, Professor of Law, and Director of the Intellectual Property, Information, & Communications Law Program, Michigan State University College of Law
Anupam Chander, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law
Lori Moylan, Public Policy Manager, Facebook
Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University

Moderator: Andrew Kloster, Deputy Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

10:25 – 10:40 am – Break

10:40 – 11:55 am – Panel 2: “Regulatory Sandboxes” and Other Laboratories of Democracy

Remington A. Gregg, Counsel, Civil Justice and Consumer Rights, Public Citizen
Brian Knight, Director of Innovation and Governance, and Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
Kathryn Ciano Mauler

Moderator: Paolo Saguato, Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, and Affiliated Faculty, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State

11:55 am – 12:00 pm – Break

12:00 – 1:15 pm – Luncheon Keynote, Van Metre Hall, Multi-Purpose Room

Kate Lauer, Advisor, Jiko

1:15 – 1:25 pm – Break

1:25 – 2:40 pm – Panel 3: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Regulation

David Freeman Engstrom, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, and Bernard D. Bergreen Faculty Scholar, Stanford Law School
Melissa Netram, Chief Innovation Officer and Director, LabCFTC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Catherine M. Sharkey, Crystal Eastman Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

Moderator: Adam White, Executive Director, The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State and Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

2:40 – 2:50 pm – Break

2:50 – 4:05 pm – Panel 4: Disruptive Technology and the Future of “Law”

Joshua Blackman, Associate Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law Houston
Jennifer Huddleston, Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
Robert Weber, Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law

Moderator: Ross E. Davies, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

4:05 – Adjourn

Research Papers for the Conference

• Common Carriage and Section 230
  Adam Candeub, Professor of Law, and Director of the Intellectual Property, Information, & Communications Law Program, Michigan State University College of Law
• Algorithmic Accountability in the Administrative State
  David Freeman Engstrom, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, and Bernard D. Bergreen Faculty Scholar, Stanford Law School; and Daniel E. Ho, William Benjamin Scott and Luna M. Scott Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, and Senior Fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
• Disruptive Deference for Disruptive Technology
  Jennifer Huddleston, Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
• The Sandbox Paradox
  Brian Knight, Director of Innovation and Governance, and Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University, and Trace Mitchell, Research Assistant, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
• Tales of Woe: How Dysfunctional Regulation Has Decimated Entire Sectors of Biotechnology
  Henry I. Miller, Senior Fellow, Pacific Research Institute
• Will the “Legal Singularity” Hollow Out Law’s Normative Core?
  Robert F. Weber, Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law

Background Materials for Keynote Speaker Kate Lauer:

• Working Paper: “Regulatory Sandboxes and Financial Inclusion,” Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (2017)
• Podcast: “How Regulatory Sandboxes are Shaping Fintech in Asia,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (2017)
• Report: “Guidance on the Application of the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision to the Regulation and Supervision of Institutions Relevant to Financial Inclusion,” Basel Committee (2016)