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| August 2006 |
- "The Federal Trade Commission Jumps into the Debate Over Net Neutrality," The Deal, August 31, 2006
"Recognizing she will likely be drafted into the fracas over net neutrality anyway, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Majoras enlisted for the fight. At the Progress & Freedom Foundation's annual policy summit in Aspen, Colo., on Aug. 21, Majoras informed the gathering of wonks, geeks and CEOs that the FTC is jumping into a fray that has already tied up the Federal Communications Commission and Congress."
- "The Week: FTC Asserts Authority Over 'Net Neutrality,'" Advertising Age, August 28, 2006
"Federal trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras asserted broad authority to regulate 'net neutrality' and said the agency will step in if regulation is warranted. "Let me make clear that if broadband providers engage in anticompetitive conduct, we will not hesitate to act using our existing authority,' she said at a Progress & Freedom Foundation conference in Aspen, Colo. 'Dangers lie in legislating without clear evidence demonstrating the problem we wish to solve.'"
- "FCC's Indecency Crusade Gone 'Dangerously' too Far," Broadcast Engineering Online, August 28, 2006
"In a major break with his fellow FCC commissioners, Jonathan Adelstein charged last week that the regulatory body had gone 'dangerously' far with recent indecency decisions and may have been overstepping its constitutional authority. Speaking last week to th e Progress & Freedom Foundation in Aspen, CO, Adelstein said he still supported enforcement of indecency regulations, but said the FCC's recent decisions on the subject 'dangerously expands the scope of indecency and profanity law without first attempting to determine whether we are applying the appropriate contemporary community standards.'"
- "Amid Fire, Verizon Lobbyists Ply Their Trade Here And There," Telecom Policy Report, August 28, 2006
"Among other things, the company's chief policy executive sought to deflect the net-neutrality flap toward other issues during the Progress & Freedom Foundation's (PFF) Aspen Summit in Colorado. Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, maintained the net-neutrality issue 'is gradually being resolved' - a reference to proposed U.S. congressional bills lacking codified measures of enforcement - and he called on industry players to address emerging concerns customers really care about."
- "Reverse Auction Proposal Would Create More Competition, Innovation," TR Daily, August 28, 2006
"The Progress & Freedom Foundation issued its support today for the FCC's public notice looking into whether reverse auctions should be used for the high-cost fund subsidy program, saying the Commission 'are to be commended for exploring this very important idea' that could lower costs for rural consumers.
"As part of a short policy paper released by PFF, the group stated that such auctions would bring more competition and greater innovation to the marketplace through its bidding process. It also said that the system would lower the burden on taxpayers, promote cost efficiency for carriers, and spur bidders to think outside the box."
- "Music to Cable’s Ear, " CableFax Daily, August 25, 2006
"FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein says multicast must-carry and a la carte pricing are 2 areas where the FCC should show more restraint. 'Absent any clear benefit for the public, multicast must-carry is Exhibit A of government overreach and over-regulation,' the Democrat told a Progress and Freedom Foundation summit in Aspen this week, according to prepared remarks. 'Turning to a potential Exhibit B is mandatory a la carte pricing. We need to carefully consider how regulation may affect consumers by undercutting the business models of many segments of the media and entertainment industry.'"
- "Democrat Adelstein Makes Friends in Dereg Places," Broadcasting & Cable, August 24, 2006
"FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein pleased the president of the limited-government, free market-backing group Progress and Freedom Foundation in a keynote speech to the group's summit in Aspen.
“While a text of the speech was not available at press time, Foundation President Ray Gifford blogged that Adelstein had urged less regulation on indecency, multicast must-carry and cable a la carte, all positions supported by the group."
- "Courts," Washington Internet Daily, August 24, 2006
"In amicus briefs, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) and Computer & Communication Industry Assn. (CCIA) asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, which they said threatens free and open source software projects and would jam up the industry. The ruling 'leaves out the application of common sense,' PFF's James DeLong said: 'The result is a one-way ratchet in favor of granting patents, which only encourages trivial patents that actually retard innovation and competition.'"
- "Redstone Says Copyright Protection is Key to Digital Survival," Communications Daily, August 24, 2006
"Strong IP protection is the key to digital companies' survival, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone said Tuesday night at a Progress & Freedom Foundation dinner here. 'We're all in this together,' he said: 'We must all depend on strong IP protection to survive.' He urged companies not to sell tools enabling piracy to survive. 'Don't give pirates a free ride by authorizing services that are unlicensed,' he said."
- "Threats to the Digital Economy," SDA-Asia, August 24, 2006
"Various viruses, spyware, identity theft, and keylogging engulf the Internet today. The Digital Economy Factbook sums up all the threats that the cyber community faces in today’s technology centric era. According to the 2006 edition of the book released by Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF), 18.3 percent of the world's Internet users are from the United States, while 11.1 percent are from China and 8 percent are from Japan."
- "Experts: Parents Should Supervise Kids' Net Use; Aspen Panel Points to Passivity by Adults as a Shortcoming," Rocky Mountain News, August 23, 2006
"A growing number of tools are available to protect children from Internet predators and inappropriate content, but parents need to be more engaged in the process, experts said Tuesday. Also Tuesday, Qwest Communications reportedly became the first broadband company in the country to publicly support legislation that would call for retaining Internet data for a year. 'This is about (parental) supervision, this is about being involved,' Qwest Chief Executive Dick Notebaert told attendees at the Aspen Summit, a technology conference sponsored by the Progress & Freedom Foundation."
- "Redstone: Content’s King," Daily Variety, August 23, 2006
"Underlying all his remarks was a rallying cry for strong copyright enforcement and a reaffirmation that 'content is still king,' as he put it.
"Redstone delivered the closing address for the "Aspen Summit: Competition, Convergence and Culture,' a three-day conference sponsored by the D.C.-based think tank Progress and Freedom Foundation and held at the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen."
- "Cost of Breach Notices Diminishes their Value," Consumer Financial Services Law Report, August 23, 2006
"[PFF Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research Thomas] Lenard, in testimony before the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight, spoke of the report's findings. He revealed that the expected benefits to consumers of a notification requirement is 'extremely small,' between $7.50 to $10 per individual whose personal data has been compromised. The number is low, Lenard said, because most cases of identity theft do not involve an online security breach, and because 'only a very small percentage of individuals compromised by security breaches - perhaps 2 percent - actually become fraud victims.'"
- "Net Neutrality Debate Started in 1999, Tauke Says," Washington Internet Daily, August 23, 2006
"The net neutrality debate, which threatens to hang up the telecom bill, isn't new, Verizon Exec. VP Tom Tauke said Tues. at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's annual conference here: 'It's a debate many of us have participated in at least twice before; it's kind of 'Groundhog Day' for broadband.'"
- "Verizon Won't Return if Franchise Bill Fails, Tauke Says," Telecom A.M., August 23, 2006
"Verizon won't seek a federal franchise bill next Congress if the telecom bill (HR-5252) fails to pass this year, Verizon Exec. VP Tom Tauke said Tuesday at the annual Progress & Freedom Foundation conference here: 'We aren't going to be starting out from the same place -- the appeal of video is going to be less.' Verizon's state-level success with franchise laws significantly weakens demand for federal reform, Tauke said."
- "Debate Continues over Internet's Future," CIO Magazine, August 23, 2006
"'There is no need for Congress to create a solution for which there is no problem to address,' Notebaert said in a speech at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's annual Aspen Summit.
"He said net neutrality regulations would 'put premature and unnecessary handcuffs on this one specific area of our business.'"
- "ITU Broadband Rankings Criticized as '‘Misleading,'" TR Daily, August 22, 2006
"It isn’t clear or 'transparent' how different countries 'come up with these numbers' regarding their broadband subscriber-ship, Mr. Wallsten said this morning during a panel discussion of global perspectives on the digital economy during The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Global Competition, Convergence and Culture summit here. 'There are huge gaps between advertised speed and actual speed of broadband service' in some countries,' he added."
- "Adelstein Sees Net Neutrality Debators 'Talking Past' Each Other," TR Daily, August 22, 2006
"'The precise contours of those business plans are still taking shape I think for the companies themselves, particularly about how they want to skew it, but they’ve really kick-started a dialogue about whether we’re seeing a fundamental shift in the character of the Internet. And it seems so polarizing now. People seem to be talking past one other at times,' [FCC Commissioner Adelstein] added during a question-and-answer session at The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Aspen Summit on Global Competition, Convergence, and Culture here."
- "Global Antitrust Litigation to Rise for 'Dominant' Firms," Communications Daily, August 22, 2006
"Intel, Microsoft and major phone companies will face an increasing barrage of litigation in the U.S. and worldwide as regulatory bodies and courts raise antitrust challenges, Jeffry Eisenach, Chairman, Criterion Economics, said Monday at the Progress & Freedom Foundation conference here. Eisenach said these companies are "dominant' -- they have intellectual property (IP) patents on unique and desirable products and multiple products embedded within their infrastructure. This gives them the ability to set prices, terms and 'exclude competitors,' he said."
- "FTC Head: No Need for Net Neutrality Law," Ars Technica, August 22, 2006
"At a meeting of the Progress & Freedom Foundation yesterday, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras shared her thoughts on the issue. She opposes Congressional action, saying that the FTC's Internet Access Task Force 'is looking carefully at the issues raised' by calls for legislation. Her thesis is that if there is a problem, government regulation is not the cure—the market is."
- "FTC Majoras Discusses Network Neutrality," Tech Law Journal, August 22, 2006
"Deborah Majoras, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), gave a speech regarding network neutrality at a conference hosted by the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) in Aspen, Colorado.
"She discussed recent and ongoing FTC activities related to the Internet, announced the formation of an Internet Access Task Force, offered comments on the net neutrality debate, and asserted FTC jurisdiction over broadband Internet access services.
"Majoras was a keynote luncheon speaker at the PFF conference. However, the complete underlying text of her speech is an extensively footnoted paper."
- "Two-Thirds of all Email is Spam, Plus Other Facts," PC Advisor London, August 22, 2006
"The latest edition of a book of global digital facts has exposed spam as an even more massive problem than previously imagined. Two-thirds of all email sent in March was spam, while only 20 percent of it was legitimate, according to the 2006 edition of the Digital Economy Fact Book, released yesterday by the PFF (Progress and Freedom Foundation), a conservative think-tank based in Washington DC. PFF researchers gathered data from a variety of public and private sources in the fact book."
- "U.S. FTC to Examine Net Neutrality," Computer World, August 22, 2006
"'While I am sounding cautionary notes about new legislation, let me make clear that if broadband providers engage in anticompetitive conduct, we will not hesitate to act using our existing authority,' [FTC Chairman Majoras] said. 'But I have to say, thus far, proponents of net neutrality regulation have not come to us to explain where the market is failing or what anticompetitive conduct we should challenge.'"
- "Auds Applaud Versatility," Daily Variety, August 22, 2006
"'Aspen Summit: Global Competition, Convergence and Culture' is sponsored by Washington-based libertarian think tank the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
"Before the digital revolution, when broadcast companies decided which programs to air and when, 'We all thought we were in charge of the consumer experience,' [Co-Chair Disney Media Networks and President, Disney-ABC Television Group, Anne] Sweeney said. '‘But now it's all about on-demand --- what consumers want, when they want it and on what platform,' she continued."
- "White House Meetings Discussed on Porn Industry Self-Regulation," Washington Internet Daily, August 21, 2006
"'Child protection and free expression' are the theme of a panel discussion at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's (PFF) Aspen conference this week, featuring representatives from Microsoft, MySpace.com, Qwest and Comcast. The Center for Democracy & Technology and PFF are planning Hill briefings for this fall to warn against the congressional proposals."
- "FTC Chairman Addresses Issue of 'Net Neutrality'," US Fed News, August 21, 2006
"Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras today told a meeting of the Progress & Freedom Foundation that she has formed an Internet Access Task Force to examine issues being raised by converging technologies and regulatory developments, and to educate and inform the enforcement, advocacy and education initiatives of the Commission. 'I also have asked the Internet Access Task Force to address what is likely the most hotly debated issue in communications, so-called network neutrality,' she said. 'The FTC's Internet Access Task Force is looking carefully at the issues raised by calls for network neutrality laws. . . . I urge caution in proceeding on the issue. I . . . question the starting assumption that government regulation, rather than the market itself under existing laws, will provide the best solution to a problem,' Majoras said."
- "FTC to Examine Net Neutrality," The Deal, August 21, 2006
"Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Majoras on Monday, Aug. 21, announced the agency is forming an Internet Access task force that will examine the concept of net neutrality. This is a provision being considered by lawmakers that could prohibit phone and cable companies from charging additional fees to Internet service providers who want better broadband connections. Majoras' announcement, made to the Washington-based Progress & Freedom Foundation, comes after the measure divided Congress and delayed movement on a broader communications bill last month."
- "Think Tank: USF 'Reverse Auction' Asks The Right Questions," Telecom Policy Report, August 21, 2006
"In what it bills as an upcoming 'snapshot' of the telecom-policy environment, the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) - a critic of the USF status quo - credits the FCC with taking a 'bold step' in asking whether reverse auctions might be used to reform the high-cost-funding segment of the subsidy program. The PFF says that 'despite inevitable catcalls from the current program's corporate welfare recipients,' the regulator should be 'commended for exploring this very important idea for bringing rural consumers lower costs, more competition and greater innovation.'"
- "Disney Calls Net TV Effort a Success," CNet and ZDNet, August 21, 2006
"'Last year we were using the Disney Channel Web site as a marketing tool,' [Anne] Sweeney said at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's technology policy conference here. 'Today we're using it as a programming tool.'"
- "FTC Chief Cool on Net Neutrality," Internet News, August 21, 2006
"Speaking at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's annual summer conference in Aspen, Colo., [Deborah] Majoras announced she was forming an Internet Access Task Force to study convergence issues with a focus on network neutrality.
"Calling network neutrality the 'most hotly debated issue in communications,' Majoras herself expressed doubts about the need for any new legislation.
"'I ... question the starting assumption that government regulation, rather than the market itself under existing laws, will provide the best solution to a problem,' she said in a keynote address."
- "Seamless Connections," Rocky Mountain News, August 21, 2006
"'Convergence has been a buzzword around technology circles for nearly a decade, but it now seems a reality as content, voice, video and data all migrate to Internet protocol-based platforms,' says Ray Gifford, the outgoing president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank that studies the digital revolution.
"But technology enabling seamless connections, Gifford adds, also increases the potential for darker elements to emerge.
"The Progress & Freedom Foundation will be discussing such conundrums today and Tuesday at its annual Aspen Summit. The summit, titled 'Global Competition, Convergence and Culture,' brings together some of the best thinkers in communications, entertainment, Internet and the government."
- "Biz Buzz," Denver Post, August 21, 2006
"Deep thinkers of the telecom industry, including a few prominent CEOs, are in Aspen for the annual summer summit hosted by the Progress & Freedom Foundation, the D.C.-based, free-market think tank. Anne Sweeney, president of Disney-ABC Televison Group, is to speak this morning; Richard Notebaert, Qwest's chairman and CEO, will do the honors Tuesday morning; and Sumner Redstone, the chairman and founder of Viacom, is to address the assembled at dinner Tuesday night, which will be webcast."
- "BitTorrent Influenced Disney's iTunes Move, Exec Says," Vonosphere, August 21, 2006
"Seeing a high-quality copy of '‘Desperate Housewives' obtained just 15 minutes after the episode's airing was a seminal moment in Disney's corporate decision to offer parts of its content online (via Apple's iTunes store), said Disney exec Anne Sweeney in her keynote address Monday morning here at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's Aspen Summit.
"Sweeney, whose numerous titles at Disney include that of president of the company's Disney-ABC television group, told a story about how a celebration of ratings success for 'Housewives' was dimmed when a Disney employee showed Sweeney and others a copy of an episode obtained via BitTorrent just 15 minutes after it was broadcast."
- "People and Appointments," Tech Law Journal, August 15, 2006
"Mike Gallagher joined the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) as an adjunct fellow. He remains a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Perkins Coie. He was previously the head of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)."
- "Caprio to Succeed Gifford at PFF," TR Daily, August 9, 2006
"The Progress & Freedom Foundation has announced that Dan Caprio, currently PFF’s executive vice president and senior fellow, will succeed Raymond Gifford as the organization’s president. Mr. Gifford is leaving his role as president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation and returning to Denver - where he was chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission - to head up the new communications, Internet, and intellectual property practice at the law firm of Kamlet Shepherd Reichert LLP. Mr. Gifford will remain a PFF senior adjunct."
- "ECPA Probably Doesn't Cover AOL Search Query Posting," Washington Internet Daily, August 9, 2006
"[Progress] & Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Patrick Ross told us AOL has given DoJ ‘some pretty serious ammunition’ not only to force search engine compliance in the case, but also to press Congress for lengthy data retention mandates. 'When one of the search entries is 'how to kill your wife,' I think all of us instinctively want authorities to find out who that person is,’ although the phrase might indicate research for a novel -- the situation with Ross's mother, a novelist, he said."
- "Ex-PUC Chair Joining Law Firm Ray Gifford, Head of D.C. Think Tank, to be Denver partner," The Denver Post, August 8, 2006
"Former Colorado Public Utilities Commission chairman Ray Gifford will become a partner with the Denver law firm of Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert on Sept. 1.
"Gifford is president of the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. He headed the PUC from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was first assistant Colorado attorney general under Gale Norton and worked in private practice in Denver.
"Gifford said Monday he's leaving his post at the foundation, which he held for more than three years, to spend more time with his family and to help launch a communications, Internet and intellectual-property practice at Kamlet Shepherd."
- "Ex-PUC Head Joins Law Firm," Rocky Mountain News, August 8, 2006
"'My nearly four years at PFF have been the most rewarding and fulfilling of my professional life, and for that I thank the many friends (and even nominal enemies) of PFF for making the legal and policy work so engaging, robust and intellectually challenging,’ Gifford said in a letter to his staff. 'The decision to step aside has not been easy, but as many of you know I have commuted to D.C. from Denver almost every other week for some time now.'"
- "Voluntary Conduct Code for Internet Firms Might Preempt Regulations," Washington Internet Daily, August 2, 2006
"Internet companies can't wait for court action to protect them from a raft of legislation introduced in the 109th Congress, said a report by Progress & Freedom Foundation Senior Fellow Adam Thierer. The industry should come up with a voluntary code of conduct, pledging to offer ratings or labels, parental controls or filters, 'reasonable' assistance to law enforcement to root out online threats, and education for parents, consumers and children, Saving Online Freedom of Speech said.
"The standardization of existing industry efforts could go a long way, preempting passage of legislation that, against all odds, could be upheld in court as constitutional, Thierer said. But a civil liberties activist countered that the code would merely remove the protection of law against censorship schemes."
- "Net Neutrality Amendment Dies," SDA Asia Magazine and SDA India Magazine, August 1, 2006
"The U.S. Senate rejected an amendment that would have preserved the status quo of equal pricing for all Internet traffic, an issue known as network neutrality. The debate over network neutrality has become a civil war of sorts in the technology industry..."
"'Consumers can breathe a sigh of relief that the Internet has escaped regulation,' said Adam Thierer of the Progress & Freedom Foundation.
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