Law Seminars International Presents

An Important Two Day Conference on

Voice over Internet Protocol

Ready for Prime-Time: Business and Regulatory Issues

December 9 & 10, 2004
Sheraton Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, GA
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Who Should Order Homestudy

Attorneys, telecom carriers (wireline and wireless), cable system operators, medium and large users, and building owners/developers for offices and wired communities

Why Order

"A dramatic shift is underway in the telecommunications industry. Carriers and enterprise customers are transitioning from circuit-switched services to digital, Internet, packet-based networks and technologies— such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). While VoIPpromises to offer feature rich communications service at lower cost, uncharted legal, financial and technological challenges confront the next generation of communication providers.Led by well-regarded industry experts, LSI’s comprehensive two-day seminar will be of interest to VoIP providers, competitors, regulators, deal makers, and equipment manufacturers. Attend and get substantive answers to the critical issues facing the Voice Over IP industry today." Program Co-Chairs: Dave Baker, Esq. and William B. Wilhelm, Jr., Esq.

What You Will Learn

VoIP Business Implications Is the Market Ready for VoIP? Status of IP/Telephony Under Current Law Public Policy Questions Genuine Cost Advantages/Disadvantages E911 Technological and Regulatory Challenges Legislative Update Patent Issues CALEA Compliance

Agenda

Thursday, December 09, 2004
8:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Introduction and Overview: What is VoIP/IP Telephony? Why is It Important?
  David Baker, Esq., Program Co-Chair, Vice President for Law and Public Policy
 EarthLink, Inc. / Atlanta, GA
  William B. Wilhelm, Jr., Esq., Program Co-Chair
 Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP / Washington, DC
8:45 am It May Look Like POTS (Plain Old Tele-phone Systems) Today, But It Won’t Look Like POTS tomorrow
  An overview of VoIP technology and its business implications
  William A. McComas, Esq.
 Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler / Baltimore, MD
  The resulting stress points on the regulatory system
  Larry Irving, President and CEO
 Irving Information Group / Washington, DC
10:30 am Break
10:45 am Is the Market Ready for VoIP? Who Will be the Winners and Losers?
  Necessary market indicators for VoIP's evolution: What competitive threats could forestall competition? Who will lead the market and who will follow? What seed money is available?
  Jessica Zufolo, Senior Policy Director
 Medley Global Advisors / Washington, DC
11:45 am Lunch
1:00 pm Regulatory Status of IP/Telephony Under Current Law
  Federal level
  Michael Carowitz, Esq.
 FCC / Washington, DC
  State level
  William B. Wilhelm, Jr., Esq., Program Co-Chair
 Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP / Washington, DC
2:30 pm Break
2:45 pm VoIP at the Crossroads: Public Policy Questions
  Will telephony regulation become irrelevant? Do we need a national broadband policy rather than state regulation? Will VoIP force restructuring of traditional "stove-pipe" regulation of services into a focus on the underlying facility?
  Walt Sapronov, Esq., Moderator
 Gerry & Sapronov LLP / Atlanta, GA
  ILEC perspective
  Jack Zinman, Esq.
 SBC Communications Inc. / Washington, DC
  CLEC perspective
  Jason D. Oxman, Esq., General Counsel
 Association for Local Telecommunications Services / Washington, DC
  VoIP service provider perspective
  Brooke Schulz, Vice President, Corporate Communications
 Vonage / Edison, NJ
  Cable system perspective
  Daniel L. Brenner, Esq., Senior Vice President for Law & Regulatory Policy
 National Cable Telecommunications Association / Washington, DC
5:00 pm End of Day

Friday, December 10, 2004
8:30 am Should VoIP be Subject to Telecommunications Fees and Surcharges? Key Economic Questions and Answers
  Intercarrier compensation
  Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Esq., President and Founder
 Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises / Washington, DC
  Federal taxes
  Glenn S. Miller, Esq.
 Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP / Washington, DC
  Franchise fees; local taxes
  William M. Marticorena, II, Esq.
 Rutan & Tucker LLP / Costa Mesa, CA
10:30 am Break
10:45 am E911 Technological and Regulatory Challenges
  Technological capabilities: Challenges of providing location information to the PSAP; necessary network elements and upgrades
  Yogesh Bhatt
 Motorola, Inc. / Libertyville, IL
  Regulatory initiatives and likely outcomes
  Roger Hixson, ENP, Technical Issues Director
 National Emergency Number Association / Columbus, OH
12:15 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Legislative Update: What’s Happened, What’s Happening Now, and What’s Ahead
  An overview of legislative initiatives effecting VoIP; the likelihood of rewriting the Telecommunications Act in 2005
  Robert M. McDowell, Esq., Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel
 CompTel/ASCENT Alliance / Washington, DC
2:15 pm Optimizing the Value of Intellectual Property: What You Need To Understand and Why
  The shift from manufacturing to services in the U.S. economy: The new phase of economic development where services are being commoditized and value is captured only though Intellectual Property; the proprietary position it offers.
  Mark F. Thomann, Esq., Managing Director
 I|C|M|B Ocean Tomo/The 363 Group, Inc. / Chicago, IL
  Craig Carothers
 I|C|M|B Ocean Tomo/The 363 Group, Inc. / Chicago, IL
3:00 pm Break
3:15 pm CALEA Compliance: What Will It Take for VoIP Providers to Meet CALEA Compliance Requirements?
  Legal requirements and pending issues
  John B. Morris, Jr., Esq., Staff Counsel
 Center for Democracy and Technology / Washington, DC
  Technical capabilities and operational issues
  Richard M. Tworek, President and CEO
 Qovia, Inc. / Frederick, MD
4:30 pm Adjourn

Cancellation

There is a $25 cancellation fee for Course Materials orders and $50 for Homestudy orders

Continuing Education Credits

Law Seminars International automatically obtains CLE credit approval for the state in which a seminar is held. On request, we will apply for CLE credits in other states and other types of credits. Current credits status: GA 12.8 CLE | AL 12.8 CLE (#71726) | CA 13 MCLE | FL CLE 15.5 (#7668-4) | KY CLE 12.75 (#74245) | SC CLE 12.75 (#243406) | WA 12.75 CLE (#128323)

Cost

Our complete Homestudy Course, consisting of a VHS or DVD recording and the written course materials, is available for $1005. The course materials alone are available for $100. We will ship your homestudy order via UPS ground within two weeks after the seminar or the date we receive payment (which ever is later).
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Faculty Bios

David Baker, Program Co-Chair, is Vice President for Law and Public Policy at EarthLink. EarthLink is the nation's third largest ISP serving over 5 million customers through dial-up, broadband, web hosting and wireless Internet and voice services.

William B. Wilhelm, Program Co-Chair, is in the Technology & Telecommunications group at Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP, where he is actively engaged representing domestic and international technology companies, including broadband telecommunications providers, domestic and international ISPs and a variety of B2C and B2B Internet sites on legal and regulatory issues.

Yogesh Bhatt is a Principal Staff member for Global Standards at Motorola. He is currently active in IEEE 802 Standards. Yogesh has been an active member of the cellular industry for the last 6 years and has provided leadership to the standardization of innovative IP based voice services and has served in a variety of research and development roles in the development of mobile Applications & Services. Yogesh Bhatt received his M.S. degree in Mobile Wireless Networks in 2000 from the University of Texas. He received his BS degree in 1996 from Birla Engineering College, India.

Daniel L. Brenner is Senior Vice President for Law & Regulatory Policy at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Previously, he served as Director of Communications Law Program at UCLA Law School and was Senior Legal Advisor to Chairman Mark Fowler of the FCC and Vice Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the ITU World Radio Conference.

Craig Carothers

Michael Carowitz

Harold Furchtgott-Roth is President and Founder of Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises. He consults on communications issues relating to the economy. Prior to that, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he completed the writing of A Tough Act to Follow, a book about the difficulties implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Mr. Furchtgott-Roth also served as a commissioner of the FCC.

Roger Hixson is the Technical Issues Director of the National Emergency Number Association and focuses on wireless E9-1-1 and Internet Protocol technical and strategy issues, and development of E9-1-1 future design. Mr. Hixson also has chaired numerous 9-1-1 advancement efforts, at the state, national, and corporate levels. 

Larry Irving is President and CEO of Irving Information Group, providing strategic planning and consultancy services to domestic and international companies, foundations and non-profit organizations. Previously, Mr. Irving served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, where he was a principal advisor to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce.

William M. Marticorena, II is a partner in the Public Law Section of Rutan & Tucker, LLP where he has represented public entities on telecommunications, cable television regulation, economic development, and public finance issues for over 23 years.

William A. McComas, a partner with Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler, counsels clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 corporations on commercial transactions. He concentrates on assisting companies in creating, protecting, acquiring, developing and commercializing technology.

Robert M. McDowell is Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for the CompTel/ASCENT Alliance. Mr. McDowell represents CompTel/ASCENT’s member companies before Congress, the White House and Executive Agencies, the FCC, state regulatory and legislative entities and the appellate courts.

Glenn S. Miller is a tax partner in the Washington D.C. office of Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP. He has extensive experience in domestic and international telecommunications and Internet tax issues, including tax issues relating to Voice over Internet Protocol, "enhanced" telecommunications services, and pre-paid and post-paid calling cards.

John B. Morris, Jr. is a Staff Counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology, and the Director of “Internet Standards, Technology and Policy Project.” In that project, Morris has actively participated in the work of the Internet Engineering Task Force, including the "GeoPriv" group working on location privacy in wireless and voice over IP contexts.

Jason Oxman is General Counsel of Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS), where he is responsible for formulating and implementing legal and regulatory strategies to advance the interests of the ALTS membership. Prior to joining ALTS, Mr. Oxman was Vice President and Assisant General Counsel at Covad Communications Company.

Walter Sapronov is a partner with Gerry & Sapronov LLP representing a broad range of clients in telecommunications transactions and regulation. He has over 20 years experience in negotiating telecommunications deals, including those of the sort discussed in the conference. He is named in the "International Who's Who of Telecom Lawyers."

Brooke Schulz is Vice President, Corporate Communications at Vonage, where she heads the communications department overseeing public relations, regulatory affairs, marketing communications and external communications programs. Previously, Ms. Schulz was a Senior Account Executive at Weber Shandwick Worldwide, one of the world's largest public relations firms.

Mark F. Thomann is a Managing Director with I|C|M|B Ocean Tomo/The 363 Group, Inc. His work is concentrated in corporate restructuring along with distressed transaction and bankruptcy consulting. Mr. Thomann has significant experience valuing, structuring and consummating bankruptcy transactions and complex financial transactions, which he employed as the Founder and President of The 363 Group.

Richard M. Tworek is President and CEO at Qovia, Inc. with experience leading organizations, and architecting and delivering infrastructure software products. Prior to founding Qovia in 2002, Tworek was the CEO of ZebraPass. Before divesting ZebraPass in 2002, he designed and implemented a turnaround strategy, built a significant pipeline and returned the company to revenue growth and profitability.

Jack Zinman is an attorney in SBC Communication Inc.’s federal regulatory group responsible for a variety of communications issues, with a focus on Internet Protocol services and broadband technology. Before joining SBC, he served as Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Jessica Zufolo is Senior Policy Director for Telecommunications, Media and Technology issues for Medley Global Advisors, an independent equity research firm that advises and conducts policy research for institutional investors and financial asset managers, domestically and internationally. Previously, Ms. Zufolo served the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners as the Legislative Director.