Keynote speakers
Marketa Trimble: Geoblocking: Let's "Tear Down This Wall"
Abstract:
In a 2012 article, Professor Trimble suggested that if geoblocking were to be accepted as the legitimate means of replicating physical borders on the internet, then the right to international travel, combined with the right to free expression, should mandate that internet users be allowed, within legitimate legal parameters, to bypass geoblocking and “travel” in cyberspace. Developments since 2012 have solidified the role of geoblocking as the legally recognized means of territorially delineating conduct and information on the internet: Legislatures and courts have recognized and accepted geoblocking as a tool of compliance with territorially-defined legal requirements. The European Union’s Geoblocking Regulation, though an anti-geoblocking law, has contributed to further recognition of the role of geoblocking, at least in the EU. The indications that existed with respect to the CJEU’s stance on geoblocking were finally confirmed in its 2026 judgment in Anne Frank Fonds. Geoblocking not only may be used to erect walls on the internet, in some contexts, it must be used. Developments concerning geoblocking have thus reached a point at which the spatial aspect of freedom of expression must be revisited unless we are to resign ourselves to a balkanization of the internet.
Bio:
Professor Marketa Trimble specializes in intellectual property law, particularly international and transnational intellectual property law, and cyberlaw. She publishes extensively on issues at the intersection of private international law and intellectual property law, including in the context of AI training. She was actively involved in an International Law Association project on the intersection and devoted her book, “Intellectual Property and Conflict of Laws” (Edward Elgar, 2026), to the intersection. Her work has addressed problems arising in copyright, patent, trademark, and domain name law, and she has published on the legal aspects of geoblocking, including in her book, “The EU Geo-Blocking Regulation: A Commentary” (Edward Elgar, 2024). Her scholarship concerning geoblocking, such as her seminal 2012 article on the topic, has been widely cited, including by CJEU advocates general, the European Court of Auditors, the Swiss Bundesrat, and U.S. courts. She is the co-author, with Professor Paul Goldstein (Stanford Law School), of a major casebook, “International Intellectual Property Law” (Foundation Press, 6th ed., 2024).
Professor Trimble holds the Samuel S. Lionel Professorship in Intellectual Property Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has presented at numerous conferences in Europe, North America, and Asia, and served as a consultant to national and regional government agencies and to law firms. She is a member of major academic and professional organizations and is an elected a member of the American Law Institute and the International Academy of Comparative Law. In the American Law Institute, she participated in the discussions of the “Restatement of the Law, Copyright,” and dissented from the final version of the Restatement. She has taught short intensive courses at the Max Planck Institute’s Munich Intellectual Property Law Center, The George Washington University Law School’s Munich Intellectual Property Law Summer Program, the Masaryk University Faculty of Law, and the Charles University Faculty of Law. She holds doctoral degrees from Stanford Law School and from the Charles University Faculty of Law.
Pablo Gracia: Digital Interventions, School Phone Bans and Adolescent Outcomes
Abstract:
Across the world, families, schools, and governments are increasingly adopting measures to regulate adolescents’ digital technology habits and social media use. However, these actions are often implemented without robust empirical evidence. Overall, we still know relatively little about how digital regulations and interventions impact adolescents’ digital lives and well-being. This lecture will present evidence from two complementary studies. First, drawing on high-quality data from adolescents across more than 60 countries, the effects of school smartphone bans on adolescents’ social media use and various well-being outcomes will be examined, with particular attention to how these effects vary across population groups and national contexts. Second, the lecture will discuss recent scholarship examining what happens when adolescents intentionally reduce or change their digital media use through digital detox practices. Specifically, it will examine whether digital detox interventions affect young people’s digital behaviours and mental well-being, paying particular attention to the role of families, schools and broader social contexts. The lecture will conclude by discussing the potential benefits and limitations of different approaches to regulate adolescent digital media use at the individual, school, and country levels.
Bio:
Pablo Gracia is Research Professor of Sociology at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Principal Investigator at the Centre for Demographic Studies (CED), and Fellow of the Einstein Centre Population Diversity (ECPD). Prior to joining UAB/CED, he was Professor in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, after having obtained postdoctoral research positions at the University of Amsterdam and European University Institute. Prof. Gracia is the lead PI of a research team that examines the intersection between Families, Well-Being and Inequalities. His current research focuses on three main topics: (1) Social and Population Inequalities in Child Development; (2) Adolescent Social Media and Well-Being Outcomes; and (3) Gender Gaps in Time Use and Mental Health. He has secured over €3 million to lead research from multiple prestigious funding agencies, including the European Research Council, Horizon Europe, Irish Research Council, and the Spanish State Research Agency. He is currently the PI of the project ‘DIGINEQ - Digital Time Use, Adolescent Well-Being and Social Inequalities’ (2024-2029; ERC Consolidator Grant Award) which examines how adolescents’ digital use relates to their mental health and educational outcomes, and how these processes relate to structural inequalities in society. Professor Gracia’s research has been published in international journals like the European Sociological Review, Journal of Marriage and Family, Information, Communication & Society, and European Societies, and with book outlets such as Routledge, Sage, Springer, Polity Press and Edward Elgar. Prof. Gracia is Associate Editor of the journal European Societies and Coordinator of the ‘Child and Adolescent Development’ group from the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS).