As we first told you last year, the Google public policy team is launching a new effort -- the Google Policy Fellowship -- to support students interested in potential careers in Internet law and technology, and the organizations working on these issues. Our first class of fellows will work for ten weeks this summer at public interest organizations involved in debates on broadband and access policy, content regulation, copyright reform, consumer privacy, open government, and more.

We were overwhelmed by the roughly 350 applications that we received from highly qualified and talented students across the country interested in our beta summer. After careful consideration by the host organizations, 12 fellows were selected to participate in our 2008 program. Here's the full list along with their host organizations:

  • Elizabeth Broomfield, Yale University - Media Access Project
  • Ren Bucholz, York University - Electronic Frontier Foundation
  • Fiona De Young, University of Texas at Austin - American Library Association
  • Alex Harris, Harvard University - Competitive Enterprise Institute
  • Margot Kaminski, Yale University School of Law - Electronic Frontier Foundation
  • Alex Kanous, University of Michigan School of Information - Public Knowledge
  • Jonathan Law, University of Illinois College of Law - Public Knowledge
  • Aaron Massey, North Carolina State University - Cato Institute
  • Paul Otto, Duke Law School - Center for Democracy and Technology
  • Victor Pickard, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - New America Foundation
  • Nicholas Proferes, Georgetown University - Internet Education Foundation
  • Vera Ranieri, Harvard Law School - Center for Democracy and Technology

Congratulations to these students, and a big thank you again to everyone who applied.

If these fellows are any indication of what the future of Internet policy looks like, the Net -- and its users -- are in great shape. Keep an eye out this summer for news from our 2008 GPF class.