At a time when the internet holds the promise of online creativity, sharing, learning, socializing, and education, and at the same time the threat of monopolization, misinformation, abuse of privacy and others, the thoughtful regulation of the internet is more important than ever. Sherwin Lee Siy, a leader at Public Knowledge for almost a decade, recognized this imperative and made enormous contributions to the field and the public. Last year, Sherwin passed away, and a summer legal internship has been created to continue his legacy.
The internship is part of Public Knowledge’s hallmark program “PKTrains,” which has served as a driver for diversity in the tech policy field for almost a decade, training more than 20 full time post-graduate fellows and dozens of student interns, externs, and other learners.
This position is currently closed.
The Position: Public Knowledge is currently hiring for this legal internship for summer 2022. The intern will promote fundamental human rights in the digital economy by creating and executing strategies to promote the open internet, balanced intellectual property rights and communications competition.
Applicants must be current law students in U.S. law schools. Applicants must have a strong interest in the policy making process — the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, and agencies such as the FCC. Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in public interest (non-profit) technology policy, including issues arising under internet, telecommunications, copyright, patent, privacy, and international law. (A “demonstrated interest” is broad – it can range from reading and following tech, tech policy or politics on your own, following the work of Public Knowledge or other tech policy advocacy teams, a class, paper, or internship, etc. Whatever experiences show that you are interested in this area.)
Essential Responsibilities and Tasks: The intern will collaborate on strategy and advocacy to shape laws and regulations that support open internet policy, communications competition, and balanced intellectual property law; draft legal and advocacy documents that support public interest positions; collaborate with government relations and communications staff to develop and execute strategy on Capitol Hill, at the Federal Communications Commission, with other government agencies, in coalitions including other public interest groups, and with the press; and develop expertise in a select set of national internet technology or related policy issues. Other responsibilities and tasks, as needed.
Application Information: The internship will be 10 weeks, from approximately the end of May or first week of June to early-August. For 2022, we are following public health guidance to determine if internships will be virtual or in person. The stipend for the Siy internship is $10,000 for the summer.
Deadline for applications: Closed until 2023.