POST CONFERENCE
    Wrap-Up
    2B Calendar

  CONFERENCE
    Program Description
    Schedule of Events
    Speaker Bios
    Bulletin Board

  DRAFT
    Table of Contents
    Search Draft

  RESOURCES
    Background Articles
    Press Room
    Related Sites

If you or your clients deal in information, you need to learn about Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). This is the conference and now is the time to learn what this draft commercial law will mean.

With U.S. information industry revenues rising (687.9 billion dollars in 1995, and expected to reach 1.33 trillion dollars by 2006), legal and industry leaders need to take a close look at proposed Article 2B. The article reaches into the heart of information industries, going far beyond ProCD v. Zeidenberg. Article 2B will not only validate shrinkwrap and other mass-market licenses, but also proposes to regulate virtually all transactions in information: everything from online database contracts to motion picture deals to consulting arrangements to technology transfer agreements. Potential conflicts between intellectual property law, the traditional legal touchstone of information commerce, and Article 2B are substantial. Although the debates surrounding Article 2B have many focal points, our conference will address this particularly complex topic-the intersection of Article 2B and intellectual property law.

This conference will bring Silicon Valley visionaries, industry representatives, legal scholars and practitioners together to examine whether Article 2B, as drafted, will

• accurately reflect standard industry licensing practices,
• complement or conflict with intellectual property law or other federal policies,
• provide a balanced framework to promote competitive markets,
• foster technological self-help as an alternative to intellectual property law, and
• shape rules for global electronic commerce.

When a final version of Article 2B is adopted, it will embody principles and priorities that will likely be used to shape the framework for electronic commerce in the United States in the century to come. It will be a guidepost for international policies and recommendations, both in commercial law and intellectual property law spheres. Our goal with this conference is to help shape a text and interpretation of Article 2B that provides optimal rules for a highly competitive digital marketplace, while respecting the economic and social wisdom underlying intellectual property laws as they exist today.

Arrangements are underway to publish papers and comments presented at the conference.