In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the power of circumstance. He explains that Bill Gates and Bill Joy had unprecedented access to the earliest computers and, as a result, they built a couple of the most important computer companies in the history of computation. A quick look at the folks who graduated from law school with me at the dawn of the Internet age (it sounds so long ago when you put it that way) and you can see the power of circumstance at work again. In my law school class were four of the most well-respected Internet scholars: Professors Jonathan Zittrain, Yochai Benkler, Kevin Werbach and the Obama administration's deputy CTO, Andrew McLaughlin. It is an impressive group of very thoughtful men and I consider myself lucky to have been in school with them and to continue to trade ideas with them from time to time.

For those of you who are interested in hearing what one of these experts is thinking about internet law, there is a great event taking place on Wednesday night (November 18th) at the Computer History Museum. Jonathan Zittrain will be giving a talk on "Minds for Sale," followed by a reception. The event is being put on by the Berkman Center — Harvard's center for the study of the Internet. I am a huge fan of the Berkman Center and occassionally am lucky enough to spend some time back east in their hallowed halls. There will be a fantastic group of folks at the event and it is open to the public. So if you are interested in meeting up with the friends of Berkman and hearing a great talk by Professor Zittrain, please come on by.