Walker Digital is a privately held American research and development lab based in Stamford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1994 by Jay S. Walker, who also holds the position of chairman as of 2011. The company specializes in creating applications and business solutions that work with large-scale networks such as cell phones and the Internet. Walker Digital and its principals partner with Fortune 500 firms such as Time Warner and International Game Technology to bring its inventions to market. It also licenses other companies to do so. Walker Digital is considered a "non-practicing entity" or patent troll because it does not create products itself, instead of relying on lawsuits to generate revenue. Walker Digital LLC is the parent company of Walker Digital Management, Walker Digital Lottery, Walker Digital Gaming and Walker Digital Table Systems. In 2011, several Walker Digital executives purchased TEDMED, the annual conference on the future of health and medicine. Inventions and Business Launches U.S. HomeGuard In 2003, Walker Digital devised an Internet-based surveillance system called U.S. HomeGuard. The basic concept was to hire 1 million work-at-home employees who would log in over the Internet to provide constant surveillance of image feeds from some 47,000 security cameras. These webcams would be installed nationwide at security-sensitive sites including border crossings, water reservoirs, chemical plants, nuclear power generators, airports, etc. Observers would report any suspicious activity to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security within 30 seconds. The Atlantic reported that Walker Digital invested several million dollars developing a prototype, offering the sell the system to the U.S. government for $1. Estimating that a test would cost $40 million, Walker said he was prepared to raise private funds for this purpose. On the recommendation of then-Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Walker held numerous meetings with White House and DHS officials but the U.S. declined to go forward with the project. Partnership with IGT In 2006, Walker Digital entered into a strategic partnership with International Game Technology (IGT), a manufacturer of slot machines. The first result of the partnership was Guaranteed Play, a method for casino game players to purchase gameplay. Customers receive a fixed number of slot machine spins or blackjack hands, known as a "session" of play, at a discounted price, by paying in advance. In 2010, Walker Digital sold approximately 100 patents to IGT, concluding the partnership. Perfect Pay Baccarat In 2009, Walker Digital subsidiary Walker Digital Gaming (now known