Epic 2017 Trivia Night / A Dynasty Is Defeated

Over 130 tech policy and law geeks gathered at DC’s third annual Internet Law and Policy Trivia night, hosted by the Foundry in partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and sponsored by tech law shop ZwillGen.

2nd place teamMany of the district’s most prominent Internet law groups competed for bragging rights, including contestants whose day jobs are at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Georgetown Law School, and Drinker Biddle, House of Representatives, Tech Freedom, FCC, and Department of Homeland Security.

Foundry Fellow Veronica Torres kicked off the night by introducing renowned cyberlaw quiz master Kurt Opsahl (Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation) who traditionally hosts EFF’s famed Cyberlaw Pub Trivia.

35633764920_96333721e5_mWith 8 rounds of questions, competition was fierce throughout the night as teams tackled topics from legal pop-culture references to net neutrality, privacy, free speech, and IP–and an epic audio SCOTUS round.

CCIA’s team failed at achieving three-peat championship, while still coming in 3rd place. Surprisingly nimble despite its massive size, a team called National Trivial Information Administration (NTIA) claimed the championship this year. The NTIA team included combatants such as Allan Friedman, Kevin Bankston, Chris Soghoian. The Tech Policy Justice League (spearheaded by Mozilla’s Heather West), secured the 2nd spot. 

Despite the intensity of the competition a good time was had by all. The Foundry’s SnapChat Trivia Night filter was widely used. Rebecca Tjahja, the Internet Education Foundation’s Google Policy Fellow, saved the night with an amazing PowerPoint-to-MPEG4-to-USB thumb-to-SmartTV conversion. And the ever-composed Kurt Opsahl will be back again next summer. Photos from the Trivia night can be found here.