 Good evening to all of you. I'm sorry that the Senate schedule prevents me from being with you tonight It is an extraordinary honor to be a recipient of an EFF pioneer award Thank you for this award and for your unflagging support and steadfast Determination to ensure that the internet is open open for business and open to facilitate speech and innovation The evidence is clear the net is reshaping the way that societies are organizing and the means by which commerce is Conducted I stand by the belief that the net is a global marketplace of ideas and represents the shipping lane of the 21st century for goods and services Keeping it free and keeping it open is more important now than ever before In just the last 12 months the power of the net to foster positive change has been on clear display When I was in Tunisia earlier this year It was clear to me that the free flow of information was key to bringing about the end of a dictatorship in that country groups like Nawa have demonstrated that the net can facilitate the type of democratic change in the Middle East that Seemed impossible in the past even when faced with regimes that attempt to repress speech and Fundamental human rights and here in our country in the internet entrepreneurs are innovating and they're creating the new jobs that our Country desperately needs the net is creating jobs and facilitating welcome political and social change and yet It is still under attack it is under attack by 20th century business models and government Institutions that too often seem captive to their interests This is evident when you see the government seizing domain names and then asking questions later It's evident when you see the see the trade negotiator trying to circumvent US law as was aimed for an acta It's evident when you look at the protect IP legislation in the Senate and the recently introduced companion bill in the house The so-called stopping online piracy act It's up to us to confront this misguided agenda head-on by exposing it and by stopping it EFF is doing its job. I'll keep trying to do mine by blocking the protect IP bill and any effort That seeks to undo the section 230 liability protections that I wrote into law Now, I also believe we've got a duty to ensure that 21st century technology is governed by 21st century laws There are times when it seems like the United States is trying to run a technological Indy 500 using rules that were designed for the horse and buggy era One big example of that is geo location tracking Our people are increasingly carrying devices such as cell phones and laptops GPS navigation units a variety of Communication tools and they can be used to track their physical location and all of their prior movements Yes, there's sometimes going to be legitimate reasons for government agencies to go to private companies and request this data Catching criminals responding to 911 calls and so forth But right now there isn't a legal framework no legal framework to make it clear when this information is protected and when it's not Tell you the truth the whole area is just one big legal mess right now Supreme Court just heard a major geo location case last week But if the Congress doesn't step in and provide some clarity the courts are going to be arguing about different aspects of this issue for years Now I've been able to get together a Bipartisan bicameral coalition to try to address this question We propose legislation that would establish the clear legal framework that now is missing Our goal is to give people confidence both that their privacy rights are protected and that law enforcement Agencies will be able to get information that they legitimately need and in my view This clarity is going to be very important for our businesses as well The good news is we're starting to get real traction behind this effort and a big reason for it It's the support that our coalition has received from EFF and other advocacy groups with your help I believe we can make sure that the privacy rights are founding fathers laid out in the 18th century Continue to apply to 21st century technology So I want you to know I am so grateful to have an ally like EFF And I'm humbled and honored by this recognition tonight Thanks very much, and I'm looking forward to working closely with all of you in the days ahead Keep up the great work