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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Patrick Ross

July 19, 2005

(202) 289-8928
   
Communications Policy Reform
on Aspen Agenda

CEOs, Senior Hill Officials Discuss the Digital Future

WASHINGTON D.C. - Does existing communications law need to be reformed? If so, what is the best approach? Those questions are being debated extensively in the 109th Congress, and will also be a key part of the conversation at The Progress & Freedom Foundation's 11th Annual Aspen Summit August 21-23. Among the participants will be CEOs and presidents of Bell companies and Voice over Internet Protocol upstarts, cable industry officials and key personnel from Capitol Hill. The discussion will be part of this year's Aspen Agenda theme, "Building a Digital Ownership Society: The Place for Property and Commons."

Details about the 2005 PFF Aspen Summit can be found on our web site. Registration can be performed online. Media as always are welcome to attend for free, and should contact Patrick Ross at 202-289-8928 or pross@pff.org.

While PFF has over the years expanded the topics of conversation at Aspen, communications policy has been a constant. That continues with a roundtable discussion Monday, August 21st, moderated by PFF Senior Fellow Randolph May, director of Communications Policy Studies. Debating the topic "Reforming Communications Law" will be a powerful line-up of some of the biggest names in communications today. Verizon Executive Vice President and General Counsel William Barr, Vonage Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Citron, SBC President Forrest Miller and National Cable and Telecommunications Association President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow will square off on communications regulation in the digital age.

The Monday night working dinner on communications, moderated by PFF Senior Fellow Kyle Dixon, also will have the participation of a number of dynamic thinkers and players in the debate. Two representatives from the House Energy and Commerce Committee will participate, Chief of Staff Bud Albright and Telecommunications Counsel Howard Waltzman. That committee has been active in exploring possible rewrites of the 1996 Telecom Act. Michael Sullivan, legislative assistant for Senate Commerce Committee Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness Subcommittee Chairman John Ensign (R-Nevada), also will join the panel. Ensign, who spoke at a recent PFF event, has been drafting his own communications reform legislation. Other panelists include Time Warner Vice President and Associate General Counsel Steven Teplitz and Pulver.com CEO Jeff Pulver.

The Aspen Summit comes as PFF is leading a wide-ranging reform project, the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA). Working with other think tank fellows, academics and public policy veterans of the last five presidential administrations, PFF fellows are seeking to craft forward-looking communications law that will guide policymakers and regulators in the digital age. The first DACA working group draft paper, on a new regulatory framework, was introduced last month. The next DACA working group draft paper, on federal and state roles in communications law, will be released Thursday, June 21st.

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.

 

 

The Progress & Freedom Foundation