The Progress & Freedom Foundation serves to educate Congress, policymakers and the public on policy issues relating to the digital revolution.  PFF regularly receives mention in national news outlets, wire services and trade publications.  A sampling is provided below.

This Month:

• "Voluntary Nature of ISP Agreements with AG Questioned," Washington Internet Daily, June 17, 2008
  "The meaning of 'voluntary' is a different matter, the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Adam Thierer said: 'Voluntary agreements between industry and law enforcement officials or government have always raised questions' as to their enforceability and constitutionality, he said."
  "The agreement's true 'enforcement' lies in the implied threat of regulation 'above and beyond' what the agreements stipulate, Thierer said. That threat is a mandate that the sites engage in age verification, which he called the 'sword of Damocles' over social networking services' necks. And an age verification scheme raises even tougher questions, since it would involve minors entering personal data to be checked against a database, he said. Such records would be especially useful to identity thieves, since most children have clean credit records, Thierer said."
• "Group to Study Online Safety Practices for Kids," Communications Daily, June 11, 2008
  "The communications industry faces a difficult choice on how much responsibility it should take, said the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s Adam Thierer"
  "The choice encompasses both the content it provides and what tools are offered to parents, Thierer said, and shouldn't include self-censorship."
  "When it comes to child safety, Thierer said, America tends to 'regulate first, educate later,' citing a PFF/CDT survey that found that only two of 37 bills dealing with technology or online safety before Congress last year focused on education."
• "Martin Delays Action on AWS Item, Plans to Schedule it for July Meeting," TR Daily, June 9, 2008
  "The censorship issue was also highlighted in a brief released today by Adam Thierer and Berin Szoka of the Progress & Freedom Foundation. 'Defining obscenity is difficult enough. But including "indecent" content will open up a Pandora’s Box of regulatory shenanigans,' the authors wrote."
• "Exclusive Handset Deals Said Good for Users," TRDaily, June 6, 2008
  "Exclusive agreements between wireless carriers and handset makers aren't anticompetitive, according to a paper released today by the Progress & Freedom Foundation. The exclusive agreements enable handset manufacturers to fund expensive development efforts for new products such as the iPhone, said the paper, which was written by PFF Senior Fellow Barbara Esbin and Visiting Fellow Berin Szoka. The fellows says market power has shifted away from carriers to handset makers and urged rural carriers to negotiate their own exclusive deals"
• "Does the US Need a New Broadband Policy?," CIO Magazine, May 23, 2008
  "[Deregulation] is 'really bearing fruit' and should be given more time to work, said Bret Swanson, senior fellow at the conservative think tank, the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF)."
  "Passing net neutrality rules could 'halt what is a very positive solution right now,' he said. 'The way a so-called new broadband policy is talked about seems to not be a step forward.'
  "Some advocates of a new broadband policy also talk about the need for more competition, but because of the cost of building networks, a significant increase in competitors isn't likely, Swanson added. The U.S. may be better served focusing on two large, robust networks with wireless and satellite service filling in the holes, he said."
• "Courts," Washington Internet Daily, May 23, 2008
  "Likening Copyright Act terms 'distribution' and 'publication' could undermine U.S. international commitments, the Progress and Freedom Foundation said. In a white paper, Tom Sydnor, director of the group's Center for the Study of Digital Property, analyzed a ruling in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, in Elektra v. Barker."
  "The 1976 Copyright Act was written to be 'future-proof and technologically neutral,' so means of access shouldn't matter if a user indeed has authorized a distribution through a shared folder, he said."
• "Cable," Communications Daily, May 19, 2008
  "Analysts at a pro-deregulation think tank asked about the status of the FCC video competition report. Barbara Esbin and Adam Thierer, in a Progress & Freedom Foundation bulletin, noted that commissioners approved the 13th annual report in November, but the text hasn't been released 'to the public or to Congress, as they are required to do by law.' A six-month delay 'must be a record setter,' they wrote, saying the last report, summarizing 2005 data, came out in March 2006: 'The 13th annual report has inexplicably been stuck in regulatory limbo for almost two years.'"
• "Making Social Sites Safer," Sydney Morning Herald, May 19, 2008
  "[Some] some task force members contend that identity technologies on the market [likely] can't prevent every unwanted incident and they could block contact between friends and relatives.
  "'So, if he's 16 and she's 21, they shouldn't talk? Maybe they're brother and sister,' says Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
  "Thierer also says that too many checks and restrictions could turn off users and hamper advertising on social networks. 'There's only so far the sites can go before undermining their business and cutting off their customer base," he says. "At some point, it becomes an annoyance for users.'"
• "Best Buy Challenges FCC Over Analog TV Sales Penalty," CNET, May 19, 2008
  "The outcome will turn on what an appellate court has to say about this. And though Best Buy has a fairly good case, it's a tough call as to how it will turn out, according to Barbara Esbin, senior fellow and director of The Center for Communications and Competition Policy at the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
  "'There is no law that says the FCC had jurisdiction to promulgate and enforce a labeling rule,' she said in an interview. 'But the FCC doesn't claim it has express authorization.'"
  "'I can't say Best Buy has a slam dunk argument, but they have reasonably good claims,' said Esbin. 'The labeling rule imposed on retailers rather than on manufacturers are not reasonably ancillary to express jurisdiction.'"
• "Staying Safe and Taking Risks," BBC News, May 14, 2008
  "[Though] I don't often agree with noted free market advocate and libertarian Adam Thierer, his critical review on the Progress and Freedom Foundation blog is well-argued and often insightful.
  "As he notes, he can 'see no reason why we can't have the best of both worlds - a world full of plenty of tethered appliances, but also plenty of generativity and openness.'"
• "PFF Paper Argues Against State Cable Carrier Mandates," Tech Law Journal, May 13, 2008
  "[PFF's Barbara Esbin] argues that 'State mandated arbitration would substantially increase the bargaining power of some video programming suppliers at the expense of video programming distributors. Yet, there is no demonstration of market failure supporting such one-sided interference into private commercial negotiations.'"
• "Citizen Murdoch," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, May 11, 2008
  "'There is a real conflict of visions at work between those who believe the media marketplace is overly concentrated and owners have too much power, and those who believe it's never been more dynamic and less concentrated,' said Adam Thierer of the free-market Progress and Freedom Foundation."
• "Martin: No New Rules For NFL Network," Multichannel News, May 9, 2008
  "Progress & Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Barbara Esbin, a former FCC official, issued a paper Thursday arguing that markets should be allowed to determine whether Comcast and the NFL Network can resolve the differences.
  "'The market, rather than the legislature, is the best place to decide this matter,' Esbin concluded."

Previous Months:

May
April
March
February
January

Previous Years:

2007
2006
2005
2004