A reminder to Angelenos: Tonight at 7PM, Michael Ayers will be giving a free public speech at the USC Annenberg School. Ayers negotiates DRM deals for Toshiba, and helped birth such anti-copying systems as CSS for DVDs. He's presently overseeing the deployment of AACS, the anti-copying technology in next-generation DVDs like Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
Ayers works for a consumer electronics and computer company, so he's often an advocate for user-rights in DRM negotiations, but at the end of the day, he's there to cut a deal that lets Toshiba ship without worrying about getting sued.
We've often been at the same DRM negotiation and though we were rarely on the same side, I always respected his ability to broker compromises, as well as his integrity and candor.
September 19, 7PM-9PM
University of Southern California, Annenberg School, 3502 Watt Way
Room 207
