Real Solutions SXSW policy panels you should vote for
Voting is open now through Sept. 4. Check out the panels below, featuring speakers from R Street and some of our friends. Click through the link to give them a thumbs-up!
Panels featuring R Streeters:
- Zombie SOPA—A New Threat to the Open Internet
- Featuring: Charles Duan, Public Knowledge; Mike Godwin, R Street; Abigail Slater, Internet Association; Ellen Schrantz, Office of Rep. Darrell Issa.
- Autonomous Vehicles Are Here. But Are We Ready?
- Featuring: Ian Adams, R Street; former National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland; Jim Chen, Tesla; Jennifer Haroon, Google[x].
- Disintermediation in Digital Content Markets
- Featuring: Katie Oyama, Google; Casey Hastings, Pandora; Sasha Moss, R Street; Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
- Regulate All the (Internet of) Things!
- Featuring: R.J. Lehmann, R Street; John Godfrey, Samsung; Eli Dourado, Mercatus Center; Lauren Soltani, Office of Rep. Suzan DelBene.
- Disrupt the Grid! The Politics of “Homebrew” Power
- Featuring: Catrina Rorke, R Street; Lynne Kiesling, Northwestern University; Tom Tanton, Reason Foundation; Doug Lewin, SPEER.
- Dear Government: Show Me the Money!
- Featuring: Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich.; Nathan Leamer, R Street; Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel,; Rebecca Williams, Office of Management and Budget.
- Giving Back: Solving Educational Inequality
- Featuring: Lori Sanders, R Street; Kate Sheerin, Google; Ed Hidalgo, Qualcomm.
- How Super PACs Are Disrupting the Election Process
- Featuring: Zach Graves, R Street; Lee Dunn, Google; Jonathan Mantz, BGR Group; Martin Avila, Terra Eclipse.
- Ride the Wave: Data as Movement Builder
- Featuring: Greg Fischer, City of Louisville; Dewey F. Bartlett, City of Tulsa; Michele Jolin, Results for America; Lori Sanders, R Street Institute.
Panel submissions from our friends:
- Can Congress Tackle the Internet of Things?
- Featuring: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.; Elizabeth Frazee, TwinLogic; Paul Daugherty, Accenture; Nicole Gustafson, National Football League.
- YOLO Politics: Bringing C-SPAN to Reddit
- Featuring: Benny Johnson, IJ Review; Evangeline Johnson, Terra Eclipse; Liz Mair, Mair Strategies LLC; Joshua Lamel, BGR Group.
- Decrypting the Cyber Security Debate in Washington
- Featuring: Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas; Chani Wiggins, TwinLogic; Sonny Sinha, Department of Homeland Security; Denise Zheng, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
- Are We Giving China the Internet? ICANN Explained
- Featuring: Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; Christian Dawson, i2 Coalition; Michele Neylon, Blacknight Internet Solutions; Tiffany Moore, TwinLogic.
- Elise’s Data-Plan: Connecting Rural America
- Featuring: Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Rebecca Thompson, Competitive Carriers Association; Kristi Henderson, University of Mississippi Medical Center; Eric Woody, Union Wireless.
- Following the Stream: Congress & Music Royalties
- Featuring: Casey Rae, Future of Music Coalition; Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif.; Katie Peters, Pandora; Rachel Wolbers, TwinLogic.
- Copyright & Creators: 2026
- Featuring: Lateef Mtima, Howard University School of Law; Betsy Rosenblatt, Whittier Law School; Alexandra Mogyoros, University of Oxford; Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times.
- Winter is Coming: Copyright Chill on Security
- Featuring: Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Laura Moy, New America Foundation; Kyle Wiens, iFixit; Karen Sandler, Software Freedom Conservancy.
- Pixelated & Political: The Internet in Washington
- Featuring: Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas; Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.; Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C.; Michael Beckerman, Internet Association.
- Internet Economy: In the U.S. & Abroad
- Featuring: Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Michael Beckerman, Internet Association.
- Embedding Human Rights in the Internet
- Featuring: Joseph Hall, Center for Democracy & Technology; Karen Reilly, Independent; Eric Sears, MacArthur Foundation; Lindsay Beck, Open Technology Fund.
- How to Fight ISIS without Breaking the Internet
- Featuring: Rebecca MacKinnon, New America Foundation; Judith Lichtenberg, Global Network Initiative; Shahed Amanullah, LaunchPosse; Andrew McLaughlin, Betaworks.
- The End of Online Free Expression?
- Featuring: Gautam Hans, Center for Democracy & Technology; Dorothy Chou, Dropbox.
- CDT/Fitbit: Ethics & Privacy in Wearable Research
- Featuring: Michelle De Mooy, Center for Democracy & Technology; Shelten Yuen, Fitbit.
- Everybody Dies: What is your Digital Legacy?
- Featuring: Alethea Lange, Center for Democracy & Technology; Megan Yip, Law Office of Megan Yip; John Troyer, Centre for Death and Society; Vanessa Callison-Burch, Facebook.
- The Singularity and the Question of God
- Featuring: Julie Germany, White Coat Waste; Luke Kenworthy, Indiana Office of State-Based Initiatives; Taylor Barkley, Mercatus Center; Joe Carter, Action Institute.
- Protecting the Digital You
- Featuring: Nuala O’Connor, Center for Democracy & Technology
- Euro vs. American Privacy: Clash of Civilizations?
- Featuring: Jillian York, EFF; Ulf Buermeyer, Netzpolitik; Raegan MacDonald, Access; Chris Soghoian, American Civil Liberties Union.
- Every City is an Internet City
- Featuring: Nika Nour, Internet Association; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
- The Killer Congressional Office
- Featuring: Seamus Kraft, Open Gov Foundation; Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass.; Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
- Marriage Equality: Where do we go from here?
- Featuring: Seth Guidry; Jerri Ann Henry, Freedom to Marry; Julie Germany, White Coat Waste; Tyler Deaton, American Unity Fund.
- Crowdfunding: Possibilities and Policy Challenges
- Featuring: Ryan Feit, SeedInvest; Sara Hanks, CrowdCheck; Michal Rosenn, Kickstarter; Evan Engstrom, Engine.
- Internet of Things: Just Someone Else’s Computer?
- Featuring: Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas; Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge; Jen Ellis, Rapid7; Sara Watson, Berkman Center.
- Using data to power criminal justice reform
- Featuring: Emily Shaw, Sunlight Foundation; Wesley Lowery, Washington Post; Tracy Siska, Chicago Justice Project; Clarence Wardell, Presidential Innovation Fellows Program.
- The New Battle Over Encryption & How to Survive It
- Featuring: Kevin Bankston, New America Foundation; Moxie Marlinspike, Open Whisper Systems; Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Wall Street Journal; Heather West, CloudFlare.
- No Encryption Backdoors, Please. Myths Debunked.
- Featuring: Sunday Yokubaitis, Golden Frog.
- Cryptowars 2.0: Silicon Valley vs. Washington
- Featuring: Sara Sorcher, CS Monitor; Matt Blaze, University of Pennsylvania; Amit Yorak, RSA; Stewart Baker, Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
- Smart Cars, Smarter Cities: New Transit Tech
- Featuring: Michael Petricone, Consumer Electronics Association; Susan Zielinski, SMART; Andrew Collinge, Greater London Authority; Ashwini Chhabra, Uber.
- Get your Goods: Unmanned Systems and 3D Printing
- Featuring: Doug Johnson, Consumer Electronics Association; Gur Kimchi, Amazon; Ping Fu, 3D Systems; Richard Pelletier, Ford Motor Co.
- Building better cities with better data
- Featuring: Chris Gates, Sunlight Foundation; Tony Yarber, City of Jackson; Jennifer Pahlka, Code for America; Daniel X O’Neil, Smart Chicago Collaborative.
- Be the Next Tony Stark
- Featuring: Mike Geersten, TandemNSI; Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association; Christina Winn, Arlington Economic Development; Brad Tousley, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
- 5 Best Startup Ideas in VR / AR
- Featuring: Robert Scoble, RackSpace; Nonny De La Pena, Emblematic Group; Shawn Dubravac, Consumer Electronics Association.
- High Res Audio in Every Earbud
- Featuring: Jeff Joseph, Consumer Electronics Association; Maureen Droney, The Recording Academy; Aaron Levine, Sony; Pal Bratelund, TIDAL.
- Tech at Issue in 2016 Election
- Featuring: Julie Samuels, Engine; Ron Klain, Revolution LLC; Ted Ullyot, Andreessen Horowitz; Tony Romm, POLITICO.
- Online Privacy and the Price of Free
- Featuring: Sunday Yokubaitis, Golden Frog; Alan Fairless, SpiderOak; Alex Bradshaw, Center for Democracy & Technology.
- Making Texas Wine in the Drone Age
- Featuring: Michael Hendrix, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation; Ryan Baker, Arch Aerial LLC; January Wiese, Texas Hill Country Wineries.
- Survive the End
- James Carafano, Heritage Foundation; Ericka Anderson Sylvester, National Review; Stacy Washington, Emmis Communications; Lindsey Burke, Heritage Foundation.
- Fair Use Awakens: Classrooms/Libraries/Communities
- Featuring: Heidi Tandy, Organization for Transformative Works; Ebony Thomas, University of Pennsylvania; Elizabeth Rosenblatt, Whittier Law School.