Barbara Esbin

Barbara Esbin is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Communications and Competition Policy at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Esbin served for over fourteen years at the Federal Communications Commission, most recently as Special Counsel in the Market Disputes Resolution Division of the Enforcement Bureau. Before joining the Enforcement Bureau at the FCC, Esbin spent four years as Associate Bureau Chief at the Commission's Media Bureau. There, she represented the Bureau on a number of inter-agency efforts and led the review of several major industry mergers and rulemakings addressing cable and broadband competition issues. Esbin has also served as Associate Bureau Chief of the Cable Services Bureau, Special Counsel for Competition and Senior Policy Advisor at the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Attorney-Advisor and Assistant Tariff Division Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau. She has spent time in private practice, specializing in cable and broadband regulatory issues between her two FCC engagements, and electric utility regulation prior to joining the FCC. Esbin had two judicial clerkships in the North Carolina appellate system and is a graduate of the Duke University School of Law and Antioch College.

Email: besbin@pff.org
Click here to see a list of publications by Barbara Esbin
Area of Expertise: Broadband Deployment, Cable Issues, FCC Policy, Internet Video, Network Neutrality, Spectrum, Telecom
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W. Kenneth Ferree

W. Kenneth Ferree is President of the Progress & Freedom Foundation. Ferree was appointed Chief of the Cable Services Bureau, now the Media Bureau, by FCC Chairman Powell and served from 2001 to 2005. After his stint at the Federal Communications Commission, Ferree served as an Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Prior to his work at the FCC, Ferree practice law with multiple firms, focusing on communications law. Most recently, he led the communications practice group at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. Ferree received his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center, his MBA at San Jose State University, and a BA in English from Dartmouth College. Ferree spent six years as an adjunct professor during which time he taught Communications Law and/or Professional Responsibility.

Email: kferree@pff.org
Click here to see a list of publications by W. Kenneth Ferree
Area of Expertise: Broadcast Issues, Cable Issues, DTV Transition, FCC Policy, Media Consolidation, Media Regulation, Spectrum
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Amy V. Smorodin

Amy V. Smorodin is Director of Communications & External Affairs at The Progress & Freedom Foundation.  Prior to joining the foundation, she worked as a public policy communications specialist at the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a global tech industry association.  She began her media and public relations career at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where she acted as liaison between families, law enforcement, and the media.  Smorodin attended American University in Washington, DC.

Email: asmorodin@pff.org
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Berin Szoka

Berin Szoka is a Visiting Fellow at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Previously, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham and Watkins, LLP, where he advised clients on advising clients on regulations affecting the Internet and telecommunications industries. Before joining Latham & Watkins, Szoka was a project attorney at Lawler Metzger Milkman & Keeney, a boutique telecommunications law firm, and a Clerk for Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He currently is an advocate for the Space Frontier Foundation and the former Executive Director & Co-Founder of the Institute for Space Law & Policy, a think tank dedicated to promoting public policy supportive of innovative space technologies. Szoka received his Bachelor degree in Economics from Duke University and his Law degree from University of Virginia School of Law. While at the University of Virginia, he was Submissions Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology.

Bret Swanson

Bret Swanson is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Global Innovation at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, Swanson was Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute's Technology and Democracy Project, where his work focused on telecommunications, technology and economics. For eight years he also advised technology investors, first as a technology analyst and then as Executive Editor of the Gilder Technology Report, a popular investment strategy service focused on semiconductors and communications. Swanson spent time as an analyst at Empower America and Sagamore Associates and worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Richard Lugar. Swanson attended Princeton University.

Email: bswanson@pff.org
Click here to see a list of publications by Bret Swanson
Area of Expertise: Antitrust, Broadband Deployment, Cable Issues, China, Energy, Free Trade, Global Economy, Internet Video, Network Neutrality, Spectrum, Taxes
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Thomas Sydnor

Thomas Sydnor is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, Sydnor served as a copyright advisor in the Office of International Relations at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Before his work with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Sydnor served as Counsel for Intellectual Property and Technology for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. During his time with the Committee, Sydnor helped to secure Senate passage of various pieces of legislation in the 108th Congress, including the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation (PIRATE) Act, the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act, and the Intellectual Property Protection and Courts Amendments Act. He also helped to negotiate proposed legislation on diversion of patent fees from the USPTO. Prior to his work with the U.S. Senate, Sydnor worked in private practice at two major law firms, specializing in intellectual property law. Sydnor is a graduate of Duke Law School.

Email: tsydnor@pff.org
Click here to see a list of publications by Tom Sydnor
Area of Expertise: Copyright, Intellectual Property, Open Source, Patents
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Adam D. Thierer

Adam Thierer is a Senior Fellow and the Director of PFF's Center for Digital Media Freedom (CDMF). As Director of the CDMF, Thierer analyzes public policy developments that impact both the economic and social aspects of the media industry, with a strong focus on First Amendment issues. Prior to joining PFF in 2005, Adam spent four years at the Cato Institute as Director of Telecommunications Studies, and nine years at The Heritage Foundation as a Senior Fellow in Economic Policy. His work on communications, high-technology, and media policy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, Newsweek, and many other newspapers, newsletters, and journals. Adam is the author or editor of six books on diverse topics such as intellectual property, mass media regulation, parental controls technologies, Internet governance and jurisdiction, regulation of network industries, and the role of federalism within high-technology markets. Before coming to Washington, Adam spent time in London, England at the Adam Smith Institute where he worked on reform of the British legal system. Mr. Thierer earned his B.A. in journalism and political science at Indiana University, and received his M.A. in international business management and trade theory at the University of Maryland. He resides in McLean, Virginia with his wife and two children. 

Email: athierer@pff.org
Click here to see a list of publications by Adam Thierer
Area of Expertise: Broadcast issues, Cable issues, E-Commerce, FCC Policy, First Amendment/Free Speech, Intellectual property, Internet Video, Markets, Media consolidation, Media regulation
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