• "Broadcast," Communications Daily, October 31, 2008
  "Progress & Freedom Foundation's Adam Thierer, who hopes the high court voids the FCC censuring of Fox, said the case may not touch much on the First Amendment. Justices probably will take 'a practical approach to tweaking the law or just affirming what the lower court said' in 2007 when the 2nd U.S. Appeals Court in New York remanded the case to the FCC, citing Administrative Procedure Act violations, Thierer told us. 'The APA-related issues will be, in my personal opinion, at the core of the opinion. I sincerely doubt that the court will rock the boat in a major way.'"
• "Targeted Advertising: The Pros and Cons," InfoWorld, October 29, 2008
  "The Progress and Freedom Foundation announced the launch of The Center for Internet Freedom last week. The Center is dedicated to advancing a 'comprehensive market-oriented approach to Internet policy issues.
  The big agenda occupying the Center, according to its director Berin Szoka, right now is the push for regulation of online targeted advertising.
  The Center for Internet Freedom, argues for a "'layered' approach to privacy protection that combines industry self-regulation, enforcement of industry-established privacy policies, consumer education, and user 'self-help' solutions."
• "Gag Me With a Law," Weekly Standard, October 27 2008
  "In a period of unprecedented access to information, the First Amendment rights of freedom of the press and freedom of speech are in danger, warns A Manifesto for Media Freedom. The rapid development of media types and venues has prompted both new and revived attempts to control them, and in growing numbers policymakers, nonprofits, and pundits are advocating regulation of radio, television, the Internet, and other media.
  "Brian C. Anderson, editor of City Journal, and Adam D. Thierer, senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, offer a brief and timely defense of the First Amendment. Explaining what different regulatory proposals mean for free speech and freedom of the press, they demand that lawmakers and government officials not interfere with the constitutional rights of American citizens."
• "Think Tank Launches Center on Internet Policy Issues," Government Computer News, October 23, 2008
  "The Progress and Freedom Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, has launched the Center for Internet Freedom to advocate a market-based approach to Internet policy debates."
  "'It is more important than ever that we keep government regulation out,' said Berin Szoka, a PFF fellow who is director of the center. 'We offer an alternative to the proliferation of advocacy groups calling for government intervention online.'
  "The center will produce analyses and critiques of proposals that it feels would diminish the online role of free markets and property rights. The center advocates technological innovation, user education and self-help, and industry self-regulation as an alternative to increased government regulation of online activities and business."
• "Pro-Regulatory Push Expected For Broadband," TR Daily, October 20, 2008
  "Barbara Esbin, a senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, and director of PFF’s Center for Communications and Competition Policy, called for the enactment of 'FCC Procedural Reform for Openness and Clarity Encouraging Sensible Solutions Act,' or the FCC PROCESS Act (TRDaily, July 31), as a short-term solution. As a long-term solution, there needs to be 'an overhaul of the agency’s enabling act,' she said, adding that 'there isn't a single policy debate in this country that isn’t hobbled by having to use terms developed for a monopoly industry.'"
• "Analyst: Downturn Could Work Against Net Neutrality Legislation," Broadcasting and Cable, October 13, 2008
  "Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, said who is in the White House could well be determinative, calling it a 'clash of industry titans' between cable and telcos on one side and companies like Google and microsoft and Yahoo! He said he thought the battle would be in Congress, predicting the court would strike down the FCC decision against Comcast. 'If it is an Obama administration,' he says, 'I think there is a good chance it would tip in favor of some kind of legislation,' saying it was unclear in the case of Senator John McCain."
• "Interview: laying it on the line with FCC chair Kevin Martin," Ars Technica, October 6, 2008
  "No one saw Martin's challenge better than Adam Thierer of the Progress and Freedom Foundation. In early 2006, shortly after I just started writing online, I interviewed Thierer, a staunch advocate of relaxing the rules, about where the broadcast ownership docket seemed headed. He told me that by trying to loosen the limits all at once, Powell 'gave the opponents of liberalization a big, juicy target to go after in the courts, and man did they hit a bulls eye when they went after it.'
  "Martin has learned from that lesson, Thierer argued, 'and has decided to go about it the old way, which is to disaggregate these issues, take them on a case-by-case or one-by-one basis, and look at each rule as is needed and determine where you can make a little bit of inroad and achieve some reform successfully.'"
• "Speakers Criticize FCC Policy Conditions Unrelated to Mergers," TR Daily, October 10, 2008
  "An audience member, Barbara Esbin, a former FCC official who is now senior fellow and director of the Center for Communications and Competition Policy at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, said that under Mr. Powell, 'there was a huge attempt to rein in the process' and make sure conditions were related to 'merger-related harm.' But she said that sometimes conditions 'end up having a shelf life' that is longer than necessary. She cited arbitration provisions imposed on News Corp. related to the Hughes Electronics Corp. transaction."
• "Capitol Hill," Consumer Electronics Daily, October 3, 2008
  "Adam Thierer of the Progress & Freedom Foundation, who earlier warned against the original bill's effort to grant the FCC expansive new powers, said the version passed is better. But S-602 still 'opens the door to an expansion of the FCC's authority over media content on multiple platforms and threatens to undermine private, voluntary rating systems in the process,' Thierer said. 'There are better ways to help parents and protect kids.'"
• "Broadband Rollout May Duck Financial Crisis," eWeek, October 3, 2008
  "'Broadband is really now rolling along. It's coming into its own and it's really booming right now,' said Bret Swanson, the director of the Center for Global Innovation at the Progress & Freedom Foundation."
  "'For the past year or so most of the turmoil has been limited to Wall Street. The worry now is what effect a real clampdown on commercial credit would have. If the cost of borrowing rises significantly, it could have an impact,' Swanson said, adding that telecommunications companies rely heavily on debt."
  "He hastened, however, to add, 'I don't think we're there yet. I don't think it [the financial crisis] affects tech as much as other industries tied to Wall Street.'
  "Swanson noted that with or without congressional intervention, much is being done to alleviate the crisis. In addition to the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.), the Federal Reserve announced Sept. 29 that central banks are significantly expanding initiatives to support financial stability and to maintain a stable flow of credit to the economy."

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