Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., canceled his scheduled speech for Friday at Ball State University's Digital Policy Institute's first conference.
Barry Umansky, professor of telecommunications, said Indiana's 6th District representative would be in Washington, D.C. to vote on a financial bailout bill. Congress was supposed to have resolved the issue before Friday, but it didn't pass the initial plan Monday and has spent the week reforming the bill.
Dominic Caristi, associate professor of telecommunications, said the conference, Digital Policy in the Information Age, would lose media attention that Pence would bring, but the quality wouldn't be affected.
"Obviously it's disappointing," he said. "... But all the people coming to the conference are interested in digital policy."
According to its Web site, the Digital Policy Institute is an organization dedicated to research in the fields of law, economics and technology as they relate to local, state and national policy. It also aims to involve students in a research environment that promotes interdisciplinary critical thinking.
Caristi said he invited Pence because he has actively supported the passing of a federal shield law to protect journalists from revealing confidential sources. He also fought against the reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine, which gave the Federal Communications Commission the authority to decide whether broadcast stations were fair and balanced when covering controversial issues.
Caristi said the conference will last a day and a half and would feature 10 panel discussions focusing on issues in digital policy. Panels will run concurrently in four time slots, he said, and would discuss topics ranging from online terrorism to YMAX Corporation, a communications company that introduced magicJack, an Internet-based telephone service.
Well-known people within the industry from organizations like the FBI, Discovery Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Federal Trade Commission are expected to attend, he said.
"This is an excellent, excellent opportunity to bring people from different perspectives together to sit down and have a conversation," Caristi said.
The conference will take place on Friday at the Alumni Center.
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