Two years ago, major revelations about the NSA’s massive intrusion into the lives of all Americans jumpstarted a national debate about the right to privacy and questions of government intrusion into our personal lives. With key sections of the Patriot Act set to expire on May 31st, Congress must address the constitutionality and effectiveness of the NSA’s mass surveillance programs.
Rayburn House Office Building
Room B354
Lunch will be served.
Mike Godwin leads the R Street Institute’s research and advocacy efforts in technology policy. Previously, he served as a senior policy advisor at Internews, advising the organization’s public-policy partners in developing and transitional democracies.
Before that, he served as general counsel for Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia. There, he created and directed anti-censorship, privacy, trademark and copyright strategies and policies including Wikimedia’s responses to the SOPA and PIPA initiatives.
Godwin began his legal career as the first staff counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which he advised on a range of legal issues during the accelerating growth of Internet access in the United States.
Wayne Brough is the Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at FreedomWorks. He received a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, with fields in industrial organization and public choice.
Dr. Brough previously worked at the Office of Management and Budget, focusing on transportation regulations; the United States Agency for International Development, focusing on market reforms in Africa; and in the research branch of an investment bank, where he covered U.S. domestic policies. He has testified before Congress and regulatory agencies on a number of issues.
Sunday Yokubaitis has served as the president of Golden Frog since its inception in 2009. Golden Frog fights for online privacy and an open and secure Internet around the world. He is passionate about providing easy-to-use services that enable people to achieve a reasonable level of online privacy and security.
Mr. Yokubaitis is responsible for Golden Frog’s global corporate strategy, including the the company’s product roadmap. He has broad knowledge about the Internet industry, federal tech policy, and the issues that affect consumer online privacy.
Since 2007, Mr. Yokubaitis has also served as President of Giganews, the world's leading Usenet provider. Prior that role, he was a patent litigator in San Francisco.
Mr. Yokubaitis holds an Electrical Engineering degree from Rice University and a J.D. from the University of Houston.
Patrick G. Eddington is a Policy Analyst in Homeland Security and Civil Liberties at Cato. From 2004-2010, he served as communications director and later as senior policy advisor to Rep. Rush Holt. Eddington’s legislative portfolio included the full range of security-related issues, with an emphasis on intelligence policy reform.
From 1988 to 1996, Eddington was a military imagery analyst at the CIA’s National Photographic Interpretation Center. He received numerous accolades for his analytical work, including letters of commendation from the Joint Special Operations Command, the Joint Warfare Analysis Center and the CIA’s Office of Military Affairs. His analytical assignments included monitoring the breakup of the former Soviet Union and providing military assessments to policymakers on Iraqi and Iranian conventional forces.
Nathan Leamer is a policy analyst and the outreach manager for the R Street Institute. Immediately prior to joining R Street, Nathan served as the legislative and coalitions associate for GenOpp, a D.C.-based millennial advocacy organization. In this role, Nathan worked regularly with congressional leaders and staff on issues of particular importance to young Americans. In this capacity, he also managed GenOpp’s “Free the Brews” project, a nationwide campaign highlighting the tax and regulatory barriers facing small microbreweries.
Previously, Nathan spent four years on the legislative staff for Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., where he worked on a number of policy issues, specifically education, civil liberties and agriculture.
