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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Smorodin
February 21 , 2006
(202) 289-8928
   
DeMint, Blackburn, Armey to Address
DACA Event

March 9th All-Day Conference to Address DACA Working Group Proposals

WASHINGTON D.C. - On March 9th, The Progress & Freedom Foundation will hold a major conference, The Digital Age Communications Act: Towards a New Market-Oriented Communications Policy in 2006, to discuss communications law reform. Discussion and panels at the conference will focus on reports and model legislative language proposed by four Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) Project working groups. Keynotes at the event will include U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

Keynote addresses at the event will be given by policymakers active in promoting communications regulation reform. The Honorable Jim DeMint, member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, will give the keynote luncheon speech at the event. Senator DeMint recently introduced the Digital Age Communications Act (S. 2113) in the Senate, which mirrors many of the market-oriented, competition-based reform concepts contained in DACA working group proposals. The opening address at the conference will be given by DACA Advisory Committee member Dick Armey. Armey, former U.S. Representative and House Majority Leader and currently Co-Chair of FreedomWorks, is a former economics professor at North Texas State University. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, is scheduled to give the closing address. In the last session, Blackburn was responsible for introducing the "Video Choice Act of 2005" (HR-3146) in the U.S. House. The bill aims to promote competition and consumer choice in the video and cable markets, primarily by eliminating franchising requirements.

The conference will include four discussion panels, each reflecting topics dealt with in four DACA Project Working Groups. The agenda includes panels on: Regulatory Framework, focusing on the DACA proposal and Net Neutrality; Universal Service; Spectrum Reform; and Reforming Federal-State Regulatory Framework, focusing on DACA proposals and the Video Franchise Process. Panel participants will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

The event will be held on March 9th at the Capitol Hilton from 9:00am - 5:00pm, with a reception to follow. The Capitol Hilton is located at 1001 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC. To ensure a place, those wishing to attend should register online. Questions should be addressed to Eileen Goulding at 202-289-8928 or egoulding@pff.org. Media should direct queries to Amy Smorodin at 202-289-8928 or asmorodin@pff.org.

The Digital Age Communication Act (DACA) Project was launched in early 2005 with the intent of providing guidance for regulators and legislators on how to address regulatory issues in an era of competing digital services and platforms. DACA consists of dozens of individuals, including PFF fellows, scholars at other think tanks and universities, and public policy officials from the last five presidential administrations. There are five working groups -- Regulatory Framework, Federal/State Framework, Universal Service, Spectrum Policy, and Institutional Reform.

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