What is the future of the internet? Thirty years after the creation of the first web page, what have we learned about the impact of the internet on communication, connection, and democracy?
Watch, Lessons from the First Internet Ages, a virtual symposium that explores and evaluates what key figures in the development of the internet and online communities have learned from their experiences. Curated by two leading experts on internet law, these conversations feature contributions from pivotal internet figures, technologists, and cyber scholars.
Curated by Mary Anne Franks and Eric Goldman
Hosted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Read new reflections from internet luminaries, past and present:
Watch Day 1
Watch Day 2
Speakers

Julia Angwin
The Markup
Cory Doctorow
Science fiction novelist, Journalist and Technology Activist
evelyn douek
Harvard Law School
Esther Dyson
Wellville
Mary Anne Franks
University of Miami School of Law, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative
Eric Goldman
Santa Clara University School of Law, High Tech Law Institute
Reid Hoffman
Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, co-founder LinkedIn, Greylock Partners
Alberto Ibargüen
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Sarah Jeong
Journalist, and lawyer, op-ed columnist, New York Times
Roberta Katz
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
Daphne Keller
Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University
Issie Lapowsky
Protocol
Chris Lewis
Public Knowledge
Alexander MacGillivray
Former United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer
Mike Masnick
Copia Institute, Techdirt
Margaret O’Mara
University of Washington, Author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America (2019)
John Sands
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Sarita Schoenebeck
University of Michigan, Living Online Lab
Deepa Seetharaman
The Wall Street Journal
TL Taylor
MIT, AnyKey
Zeynep Tufekçi
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CITAP, Columnist, New York Times
Safiya Umoja Noble
University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2)
Siva Vaidhyanathan
University of Virginia, Center for Media and Citizenship
Nicole Wong
Albright Stonebridge Group, Former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States
Christopher Yoo
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Center for Technology, Innovation & Competition