Today, we are pleased to announce the winners of our 17th annual IP3 Awards. Public Knowledge hosts the IP3 Awards ceremony each year to honor those who have made significant contributions to technology and tech policy in the categories of Intellectual Property, Information Policy, and Internet Protocol. This year’s ceremony will be hosted online Thursday, September 24, at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Our 2020 Intellectual Property Award will be presented to Lila Bailey, Policy Counsel for Internet Archive. Our 2020 Internet Protocol Award will be presented jointly to Matthew Rantanen (Canadian Cree), Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association and Director for the Tribal Digital Village Network Initiative, and Partnering and Business Development at Arcadian Infracom; and Geoffrey C. Blackwell (Chickasaw, Choctaw, Omaha, Muscogee Creek), Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel for AMERIND and former founding Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy. In 2016, Blackwell advised AMERIND on establishing AMERIND Critical Infrastructure, which is entirely focused on closing the digital divide in Indian Country. Finally, Our 2020 Information Policy Award will be presented to Stop Hate for Profit, a campaign that organized a mass boycott of Facebook advertising.
The following can be attributed to Chris Lewis, President and CEO of Public Knowledge:
“We are pleased to recognize Lila Bailey, Matthew Rantanen, Geoffrey Blackwell, and the Stop Hate for Profit campaign for their impressive work advocating for policies that benefit consumers in the technology space and a healthier digital public square, especially during a tumultuous year.
“As the Internet Archive’s lawyer, Lila Bailey is responsible for the legal strategy that protects access to the Archive’s collections, including the web, books, music, TV news, software and much more, for future generations. She has been a tremendous advocate and leader behind the scenes on behalf of libraries and archives, ensuring both can serve the public in the digital era. Working at the intersection between copyright and information access, Lila has been instrumental in promoting equitable access to contemporary research through Controlled Digital Lending — the library lending practice currently under threat because of a legal challenge from large commercial publishers.
“Matthew Rantanen and Geoffrey Blackwell have steadfastly fought for broadband deployment and access on Tribal lands, most recently advocating to keep open the ‘Rural Tribal Priority Window,’ which provides Tribal Nations the ability to obtain spectrum licenses in the 2.5 GHz band at no-cost — crucial for expanding critically needed wireless services on Tribal lands.
“The Stop Hate for Profit campaign demonstrates the power of online organizing and reinforces that society will not accept Facebook profiting from hate and misinformation. More than 1,100 companies, including major corporations and small businesses, stopped advertising on Facebook in the month of July as part of the campaign. These companies joined with more than 100 nonprofits — spanning racial justice, human rights, labor, and religious organizations — and countless individuals in a stand against racist, violent, and verifiably false content. This movement demonstrates that technology users must be empowered to make choices about the services they use. It also signals to consumers that it is possible to take a stand against such a powerful platform, and highlights the need for greater platform regulation.”
View our event page to learn more about the 2020 IP3 Awards. Tickets are available for media upon request.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.