WASHINGTON D.C. - The Progress & Freedom Foundation's 12th Annual Aspen Summit, continuing its status as a premier gathering of technology policy authorities, will include an abundance of distinguished academics as panelists, working dinner participants, and keynote speakers. These academics will offer their expertise in the fields of economics, intellectual property and technology policy throughout the three day Summit. Many of the academics are members of the IPcentral Academic Advisory Council, a group of distinguished scholars who concentrate on intellectual property issues.

A keynote address on Monday, August 21st, will be given by Richard Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, Faculty Director for Curriculum, and Director Law and Economics Program at the University of Chicago Law School. Epstein, who is a member of IPcentral's Academic Advisory Council, is a frequent contributor to major newspapers and journals on topics ranging from intellectual property to the Patriot Act. Epstein will address issues raised in his recent paper, "Intellectual Property for The Technological Age."

PFF board member John Rutledge, Chairman of Rutledge Capital and President of the Mundell International University Business School, will be a featured participant in the discussion panel, "Global Perspectives on the Digital Economy," moderated by Thomas Lenard, PFF Senior Fellow and Senior Vice President for Research. Rutledge, a former economics professor at Tulane University and Claremont McKenna College, is a globally renowned economist and advisor to several U.S. Presidents. Timothy F. Bresnahan, Professor of Economics, Landau Professor in Technology and the Economy, and Chair, Department of Economics at Stanford University, will also participate in the panel. Bresnahan has written extensively on competition, innovation and labor as it relates to technology. Detailed information on the discussion panel will be released in the upcoming weeks.

The working dinner on patents, copyright and broader issues concerning intellectual property, will contain three members of IPcentral's Academic Advisory Council. They include Douglas Lichtman, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago School of Law; Mark Schultz, Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University; and Julia Mahoney, David H. Ibbeken Research Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. Participants at the popular, casual dinner will discuss the state of intellectual property today, including prevailing attitudes worldwide and the implications on the technology industry.

The 2006 PFF Aspen Summit will be held at the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado. Registration can be performed online. Members of the media have their registration waived and should contact Amy Smorodin at asmorodin@pff.org or (202)289-8928.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.