WASHINGTON D.C. - Bush Administration, FCC, and top communications industry officials will assess the future of regulation of the Internet’s so-called physical layer – the wireless, cable, phone, and other delivery ‘pipes’ – at the Aspen Summit in August. Their panel discussion is one of numerous sessions at the tenth annual gathering of Internet, technology and digital policy leaders held August 22-24, at the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado. This year’s conference theme is the future of the Internet.

Participants in the Tuesday, August 24 discussion include Hon. Kathleen Q. Abernathy, FCC Commissioner, Hon. Michael D. Gallagher, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Hon. Steve Largent, president and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assoc., Walter B. McCormick, Jr., president and CEO of the U.S. Telecom Assoc., and Robert Sachs president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Assoc. Randolph J. May, senior fellow and director of communications policy studies at the Foundation, will moderate the 9:15 am panel.

“The tenth annual Aspen Summit will feature insights and predictions of some of the world’s most compelling communications and technology leaders on a topic that concerns everyone – the future of the Internet,” says Progress & Freedom Foundation President Raymond L. Gifford. “This is the event of the year for anyone interested in the current state and future of the digital economy.”

Past Aspen Summit speakers have included industry leaders Jeff Bezos, Carly Fiorina, Peter Chernin and Ivan Seidenberg; authors Lawrence Lessig, George Gilder and Esther Dyson; as well as leading policymakers and academics. Last year’s highlights included presentations by FTC Chairman Timothy Muris and FCC Chairman Michael Powell. Wired News has compared the Aspen Summit to the annual Davos event in Switzerland and the Renaissance Weekend at Hilton Head.

Further details about the 2004 Aspen Summit will be announced soon. Registration can be accomplished here. Rooms at the St. Regis, where the Summit takes place, can be booked here.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.