From the Copyright Alert System to his favorite Teenage Mutant...

give graduated warnings to users and penalties for infringement by someone using their accounts such as speed reduction (CD Feb 26 p10) -- a “noble experiment” that he likes because “it was worked out by the private sector rather than mandated by the government.” He took many questions on CES. Asked if he wanted Apple as a CES exhibitor, Shapiro said: “Yes. Is Halle Berry gorgeous?” Asked about the departure of other big names like Microsoft last year, and how such departures effectively killed the Comdex conference, Shapiro said Microsoft was at this year’s CES “in almost every way” and CES was “almost sold out” already for 2014. He said CEA “heavily scrutinize[s] credentials” from Nevada and California for CES attendance, and it’s not going to do shows outside of Las Vegas because “I don’t want to mess with love.” Asked how 3D printing could spur a new round of copyright disputes and perhaps legislation, Shapiro said: “My entire career has been spent fighting status quo industries that are concerned that innovation will take away their monopolies. ... Like when the Internet was created, 3D printing will face many attacks by those who ignore the potential and fear the worst.” The “netizens” should insist “that government step in only narrowly and carefully, and not in a way that chokes off threads of innovation that have yet to be born.” Though the U.S. has “the best university system in the world,” it is “somewhat divorced from the reality of the job environment, and hindered by the tenure system combined with age-discrimination laws.” Europe is “stuck in a beautiful past and biased against changing anything for the future,” he said of innovation there: “Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to innovate there.” Though Shapiro was a vocal Mitt Romney supporter in the 2012 presidential election, Shapiro praised “Obamacare” because it “allows for the sharing on a large scale basis of treatment results. Increasingly, technology will allow patients a major role in monitoring and determining their own healthcare. Combining wireless Internet, new apps and technologies, and healthcare is a winning combination for everyone.” The biggest challenge for innovation is “raising money, and thanks to recent innovations like crowd-sourcing, we're on the right path for anyone with a dream to pursue it,” he said.