Panelists:
- Paul Brigner, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Policy Officer, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) [bio]
- Dr. Stephen D. Crocker, Chair, ICANN Board; CEO, Shinkuro, Inc. [bio]
- Tim Lordan, Executive Director, Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (Moderator) [bio]
- Mike Masnick, Editor, techdirt [bio]
- Steve Tepp, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Global Intellectual Property Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce [bio]

The 2012 State of the Net Conference will feature an in-depth discussion with leading Internet policy experts on online piracy: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA): The Debate. Both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have now offered legislation aimed at combating online piracy through so-called "Rogue Websites," which mainly operate outside of the jurisdiction of U.S. law enforcement. Proponents of the legislation assert that the legislation is needed to stem rampant online-enabled theft of American products. Opponents argue that the legislation harms Internet innovation, circumvents existing copyright law protections and that its DNS filtering provisions would be technically unworkable. Regardless, both sides agree that this legislation has enormous implications for the Internet.

The legislation has provoked a great deal of discussion in the media, within the policy community and on Internet blogs and social networking sites. Our expert panel, representing both opponents and proponents of the legislation, will discuss some of the key provisions of the Senate's PROTECT IP Act and the more recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) by the House in a dynamic moderated debate.