• "Bill to Force Ads On TV to Keep It Down," The Washington Times, June 30, 2008
  "[But] some, such as Adam Thierer of the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF), are not pleased that elected officials are concerning themselves with our eardrums.
  "'As we all learned in our high school Civics 101 classes, this was why the American Revolution was fought: We Americans have an unambiguous constitutional birthright to be free from the tyranny of "excessive loudness" during commercial breaks,' Mr. Thierer, a director of the free-market group's Center for Digital Media Freedom, wrote on the PFF blog last week.
  "'I look forward to the day when I can visit the FCC and see my tax dollars at work as teams of bureaucrats closely monitor each episode of "Desperate Housewives" and "Swingtown" in search of such malicious volume manipulation during the commercial breaks,' Mr. Thierer said."
• "PFF Paper Urges FCC Not to Leave Wireless ETFs Alone," Telecom A.M., June 26, 2008
  "Testimony at the recent FCC hearing on early termination fees should lead commissioners to conclude that the U.S. wireless market is highly competitive and the agency need not limit the ability of wireless carriers to charge the fees, Progress and Freedom Foundation's Barbara Esbin said in a white paper. 'The overwhelming majority of consumers will choose a term contract plan with discounted equipment and monthly charges over the alternatives, and all carriers offer alternative pricing plans,' the paper said. 'That fact alone warrants caution to any approach that would result in cessation of use of ETFs as a service contract option.'"
• "PFF Fellow Seeks FCC ETF Policy," TR Daily, June 25, 2008
  "The FCC should adopt rules on early termination fees (ETFs), according to Barbara Esbin, a senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and director of its Center for Communications and Competition Policy. 'Issues concerning the reasonableness of wireless service contract ETFs and the manner in which they are assessed and imposed should be determined by the FCC, with input from all interested parties, including the state public utility commissions and consumer advocates,' Ms. Esbin said in a commentary released today."
• "'Making Available' Theory Takes Center Stage in RIAA v. Thomas," BetaNews, June 23, 2008
  "Thomas Sydnor of the Progress and Freedom Foundation seemed to support [the MPAA] argument in a separate brief, arguing further that the Copyright Act was intended to be flexible and technology-neutral, as its writers couldn't have possibly imagined the new ways of distribution that now exist, and courts and copyright holders must adapt to."
• "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

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