Stanford CIS
Lauren Gelman

Lauren Gelman

Lauren is an experienced attorney, frequent speaker and start-up advisor who has worked in the field of Internet law and policy since 1995. She is the founder of BlurryEdge Strategies, a legal and strategy consulting firm located in San Francisco that advises technology companies and investors on cutting-edge legal issues. (Clients include: Lookout Mobile Security, Nest Labs, Fitbit, Github, Strevus, Krux Digital, BoingBoing, Gracenote, Imatchative, Trulia, reddit, Euclid Analytics, Don.na, Imgix, Wickr, private and institutional angels and investors, researchers) She regularly participates on behalf of clients or as an expert in policy debates (NTIA mobile Notices, DOE Smart Energy, W3C Do Not Track, FTC IoT, etc.)

Lauren previously led the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and taught at the Law School and the Department of Engineering. Prior to that she worked in Washington DC on policy issues for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACM Public Policy Committee, and at RealNames in Silicon Valley.

At Stanford Law School, Lauren taught Internet Privacy, Governance in Virtual Worlds, Advanced Cyberlaw and Fair Use, and Privacy and Free Speech Online. She served as the Dean of State of Play Academy (SOPA), a virtual world law and technology community, sat on the Board of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and served on the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Secure Flight Working Group at the Department of Homeland Security.

Lauren is the co-editor of Securing Privacy in the Internet Age, the author of Privacy, Free Speech and Blurry-Edged Social Networks published by the Boston College Law Review as well as dozens of other articles on Internet issues. Lauren received a B.S. in Biology and Society from Cornell University, an M.S. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from The Elliott School George Washington University, and her law degree from Georgetown University. She is a member of the California Bar.

Recent articles

Blog

want to have your opinion published?

The Stanford Technology Law Review ("STLR"), a leading law journal, is seeking submissions to its Perspectives section. STLR Perspectives features con…

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Democracy

On Friday, I was at a conference on digital copyright issues.  At several points, speakers expressed the view that when wealthy content owners like Disney go to…

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grokster argued

Thanks to Wendy Seltzer, I was able to listen to an MP3 of the MGM v. Grokster argument, (CIS is a co-counsel to Grokster).   I would have loved to go in person…

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democratic discourse

John Palfrey paid me a nice comment on his blog-- but it got me thinking.  He, and others, write their thoughts about digital democracy daily on their blogs.  I…

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the end of the wireless sanctuary

This NYT article explains how millions of wireless users are signing contracts where the fine print allows providers to add them to a phone directory. I like t…

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Copy Left

Excellent summary- style piece in the NYT: The Tyranny of Copyright.  The type of piece you can give your mother to read so she understands why you are not '…

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Findlaw

January 2004: Does Howard Dean's Third-Place Finish in Iowa Rebut the "Internet Election" Concept? for FindLaw's Writ.…

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Internet Election?

I wrote a guest column for Findlaw on why I don't think this Election will really be the "Internet Election."  As innovative as Dean's use of…