WASHINGTON D.C. - Adam Thierer, a well-known veteran of the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, has joined The Progress & Freedom Foundation as a senior fellow. Thierer will direct PFF's newly created Center for Digital Media Freedom. The Center will protect America's sacred First Amendment heritage and promote enlightened public policy regarding all forms of communications. Next month the Center will host a Congressional Seminar addressing the possibility of broadcast indecency rules being applied to cable and satellite programming.

"Adam Thierer is a renowned expert in digital policy issues," said PFF President Ray Gifford. "He is a strong addition the growing arsenal of minds at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Adam also is the perfect choice to head the Center for Digital Media Freedom, as few scholars better understand how regulation of media architecture can impact free speech."

At Cato, Thierer was the Director of Telecommunications Studies. Prior to Cato, he was a fellow in economic policy at The Heritage Foundation. His work on communications, high-technology, and media policy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Investors Business Daily, Forbes, The Economist, Newsweek, and many other newspapers, newsletters, and trade journals.

Thierer is the author or editor of five books on diverse topics such as intellectual property, mass media regulation, Internet governance and jurisdiction, regulation of network industries, and the role of federalism within high-technology markets. Currently he is finishing a book entitled Media Myths that discusses the ongoing debate over media ownership controls. He has already begun posting on the PFF weblog.

The Center for Digital Media Freedom will focus on media freedom both in a structural (business) sense and a social (speech-related) sense, identifying the appropriate role for policymakers to play. The First Amendment is central to the Center, Thierer says. "If government can control the soapbox, it can control the speech delivered from that soapbox."

"We consider all media equal in the eyes of the First Amendment," says Thierer. "In an age of rapid technological change and convergence, the Center for Digital Media Freedom will make it clear that traditional government controls on media are increasingly unjust, indefensible, and ultimately unsustainable." Thierer is reachable at 202-289-8928 or at athierer@pff.org.

On April 8 from noon to 2 p.m. in Room B369 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Thierer will participate in a Congressional Seminar titled "The Indecency Debate: Should Congress Extend Broadcast Rules to Other Media?" Congress once again has taken up legislation addressing broadcast indecency, and there is growing sentiment that regulations should be extended to cable and satellite providers. The Center for Digital Media Freedom event will feature speakers debating this topic. Those interested in attending should register online. Lunch will be served. Media questions should be directed to Patrick Ross at 202-289-8928 or pross@pff.org. Other questions should be directed to Eileen Goulding at 202-289-8928 or egoulding@pff.org.

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.