Dr. Shamos, a co-director of Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for eCommerce who holds seven degrees from major universities in different fields and is a registered patent attorney, will advise Reed Smith clients and the firm's lawyers on high-level technology and e-commerce initiatives. Forbes magazine recently described Dr. Shamos as "one of the leading legal experts of legal matters on the Net."
Daniel I. Booker, Reed Smith's Managing Partner, said, "Dr. Shamos' expertise is internationally recognized and his field is of importance to substantially all of our clients. His decision to join us is the latest in a series of strategic moves we have made in the technology and e-commerce areas to help us advance the interests of our clients."
Dr. Shamos was a pivotal expert witness in recent precedent-setting technology cases, including the landmark iCraveTV and DVD cases filed on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America concerning Internet copyrights.
Dr. Shamos has been affiliated with the School of Computer Science at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University since 1975 and is now Principal Systems Scientist and Director of the Universal Library. His research interests include digital libraries, language identification, electronic voting, automated negotiation, experimental mathematics, and Internet law and policy. He will continue his full-time position at CMU while working with Reed Smith and will serve as an expert witness in matters not involving the firm’s clients.
This move is the latest in a series by which Reed Smith has increased its presence in technology centers throughout the United States, particularly in New York and Northern Virginia. According to Mr. Booker, "From our work with incubators, venture service providers and accelerators in each of our major markets, to our participation in leading technology, e-commerce and venture capital trade groups, we continue to increase our capacity to address the complex technology needs of our clients."
Dr. Shamos said the firm's commitment to expanding its e-commerce technology practice was a factor in his decision to join Reed Smith. "I respect what Reed Smith is building and look forward to being part of it," he said. "The firm has developed great breadth in technology law and has the most advanced e-commerce vision of any firm I’ve seen. Their IP lawyers all have engineering or other scientific degrees, including electrical engineering and computer science, and are leaders on the issues of international technology protection, commercialization and litigation."
Joseph T. Moran, a partner in the firm's E-Commerce and Technology Group and a member of the inaugural graduating class of the eCommerce Institute, believes that Reed Smith's clients will greatly benefit from Dr. Shamos' "practical creativity - his ability not only to understand and explain the latest technological advancements, but to see possibilities that others failed to grasp." Moran noted that he'd had the privilege to witness this firsthand "both in the classroom and in the courtroom. I am thrilled that we have a resource of his caliber to offer to Reed Smith's clients on cutting edge e-commerce and technology issues."
The iCrave case involved a Web site from Toronto which rebroadcast signals from 17 U.S. and Canadian network and cable channels over the Internet without permission of the programs’ owners. On January 20, 2000, Reed Smith, as lead trial counsel for 10 Hollywood movie studios, along with lawyers representing three TV networks, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and Canadian producers and broadcasters, commenced a fierce legal attack against iCraveTV.com. Blair Levin, a former FCC official, was quoted in USA Today: "Broadcasters have told me that if they lose this case, it’s the end of the world."
Testimony by Dr. Shamos was a turning point in the iCrave trial, and the company ultimately agreed to permanently stop broadcasting copyrighted U.S. and Canadian television shows on the Internet in exchange for dismissal of the case. According to Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith's incoming Managing Partner who was co-lead counsel in the iCrave case, "I've worked directly with Dr. Shamos and I am delighted that all of our technology and e-commerce clients will have the opportunity to take advantage of his unique and world-class talents. His addition will ensure that our clients will have access to the latest thinking from a leader in this fast-moving field."
Dr. Shamos was lead witness in the first Court test of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which established the legal principle that distributing or linking to software that circumvents the copyright protection on digital videodiscs is illegal.
Born on April 21, 1947 in New York, Dr. Shamos holds the following academic degrees: A.B., Physics, Princeton University, 1968; M.A., Physics, Vassar College, 1970; M.S., Technology of Management, American University, 1972; M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Computer Science, Yale University, 1973, 1974 and 1978; and J.D., with honors, Duquesne University, 1981. He has written four books on billiard history and serves on the Rules Committee of the Billiard Congress of America, the game’s governing body. Proficient in French and Russian, he also founded and sold two Pittsburgh computer software companies.