Jeffrey Young

Jeffrey Young serves as legal and technical advisor to NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), the independent public broadcaster of Japan. He counsels NHK and its affiliated companies on the array of issues affecting the distribution and contribution of media services over a global footprint. In particular, Mr. Young:

• Advises on the design, implementation, and maintenance of NHK’s worldwide distribution network comprised of C-band and Ku-band satellites, fiber, and IP-based infrastructure, and associated network hardware;
• Drafts contracts and advises on licensing and copyright issues for NHK’s international TV channels in deals with content aggregation platforms in over 160 countries worldwide, including major cable TV, IPTV, DTH satellite, and OTT operators, terrestrial broadcast stations, and hotel TV aggregators, for distribution reaching over 360,000,000 households across the world;
• Counsels on regulatory compliance with major media and communications regulators in the United States, European Union, and around the world, on matters related to spectrum policy and utilization, transition to ATSC 3.0, deployment of 5G, FCC regulations governing cable retransmission and closed captioning, implementation and interpretation of the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) in Europe, and OFCOM licensing and oversight in the UK;
• Advises on promoting accessibility to media services through closed captioning and subtitling technologies, and through the enrichment of electronic program guide metadata, and negotiates deals with captioning data service providers, transcoding software developers, auto-translation and speech-to-text engines, and EPG service providers;
• Supports the maintenance and utilization of NHK’s dedicated contribution circuits to key international news bureaus, and advises on emerging newsgathering technologies including mobile IP over bonded cellular networks;
• Participates with NHK on the Planning Committee of the World Broadcasting Unions - International Media Connectivity Group (WBU-IMCG), which hosts biannual Forums around the world to discuss common technical challenges for broadcasters in the transmission of audiovisual media, moderating panels on satellite innovation, subtitling technologies, distribution network architecture, and supporting HEVC interoperability program with participating codec vendors;
• Advises on innovations in video technology including transitions to ultra-high definition (UHD) television (4K/8K), high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG), and HEVC encoding.

Mr. Young’s previous experience includes providing representation on a broad range of commercial and regulatory matters, with an emphasis on serving clients in the Pacific Rim. He began his legal career as a clerk for the Honorable John C. Coughenour at the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. In private practice, Mr. Young has represented public and private clients in a variety of adversarial proceedings including federal court disputes, arbitrations, and government investigations, involving antitrust, fraud, contract, and other civil claims. He has also advised clients on regulatory compliance issues and performed filings for premerger clearance and national security review by U.S. federal government agencies. He is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.

Education

• B.A. University of California at Berkeley, High Honors, 2000
• J.D. University of Michigan Law School, Cum Laude, 2006
• Michigan Law Review, Articles Editor, Volume 103

Admissions

• California
• District of Columbia
• Washington (Inactive)