Virtual Format
Terasem will host its virtual colloquium at the Terasem Island Amphitheatre in SecondLife (http://secondlife.com, coordinates: 121:155:30), an on-line virtual community. We will be pleased to provide you with the necessary information and instruction to participate in this Terasem Island/SecondLife virtual colloquium. Program pending.

Purpose of the Colloquium
Each year on December 10th, International Human Rights Day, Terasem conducts a colloquium on the law of futuristic persons. The event seeks to provide the public with informed perspectives regarding the legal rights and obligations of “futuristic persons” via audio/video webcast (including transcripts) of expert presentations, challenges and discussions. We also hope to facilitate development of a body of law covering the rights and obligations of entities that transcend, and yet encompass, conventional conceptions of humanness.

Attendees
Attendees have been invited by the sponsor based on their interest in the subject matter and/or their ability to make a valuable contribution to the discussion. The number of attendees for each year is limited to fifty within this virtual venue.

Sponsor
Martine Rothblatt endowed the sponsor to encourage Earth to move forward with curative GRAIN (Genomics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Nanotechnology) technologies. Based on her experience in implementing new world-changing technologies, she believes that publicly accessible information and reasonable regulatory controls are essential to overcome resistance to technological change. She was previously responsible for co-founding the first non-governmental international satellite communications system (PanAmSat), launching the global vehicle tracking industry (Geostar), creating the satellite sound broadcasting alternative to shortwave (WorldSpace) and founding/running a major satellite-to-car digital radio company (Sirius Satellite Radio). She also represented the Radio Astronomy quiet band interests of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Radio Frequencies and led the International Bar Association’s effort to provide the United Nations with a draft Human Genome Treaty. In 1996 she formed United Therapeutics, a NASDAQ-traded biotech company with FDA-approved therapies for pulmonary disease, advanced clinical trials in oncology, and one of the world’s largest telemedicine networks.

Background Information
The genesis of the Terasem Colloquium on the Law of Futuristic Persons was the historic BINA48 mock legal proceeding, convened at the 2003 International Bar Association Meeting in San Francisco, CA. We encourage interested participants to review the transcript and/or videocast of that hearing on the event program page and on KurzweilAI.net at “Biocyberethics: should we stop a company from unplugging an intelligent computer?”