Free State Foundation President Randolph May announced the release of a new book, A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform, a collection of eight of his law review articles. The Foreword places all articles in the context of a free market-oriented communications policy reform framework that is consistent with fundamental constitutional principles. The book can be ordered from Amazon here, and from Barnes & Noble here.
Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation and a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), will participate in the ACUS 55th Plenary Session on December 8-9, 2011, in Washington, DC. ACUS is an independent federal agency dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research, providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for improvement of federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of federal officials and experts with diverse views and backgrounds from both the private sector and academia.
Deborah Taylor Tate, Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Free State Foundation and former Federal Communications Commissioner, will participate on December 9, 2011, in the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Special Event on Cybersecurity and Development, organized jointly by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the International Telecommunication Union. Ms. Tate’s panel topic, “An International Framework to Combat Cybercrime and Improve Cybersecurity,” will include child pornography issues. She is the co-chair of the Healthy MEdia Commission and the first ITU Special Envoy for Child Online Protection.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May will participate on a panel discussion on November 17, 2011, at the American Bar Association's Section of Law and Regulatory Practice Fall Conference held at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, DC. The 10:45 a.m. panel, “The Government in the Sunshine Act: A Current Assessment,” will discuss the Sunshine Act’s impact on multi-member agencies, such as the FCC.
In her role as the Special Envoy for Child Online Protection, Deborah Taylor Tate, a Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Free State Foundation and a former Federal Communications Commissioner, has been invited by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as a moderator, speaker, and participant in ITU Telecom World 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 24-27, 2011. She also served as a Judge for the "Young Innovators and Not for Profits challenge" which included projects from youth and undeveloped nations from around the world. The winners will be announced at Telecom World and will receive mentorships and scholarships for their projects. Tate will moderate and introduce the ITU Secretary General Hamadoun Toure at a special event dedicated to Global Child Online Protection activities following the Secretary General's Call to Action in 2009. Costa Rican President Laura Chincilla, Patron for the COP Initiative, will also participate. Tate was the first Special Envoy created by the ITU to recognize her international work regarding the education and empowerment of children online and internet/media literacy.
Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May will participate in an online privacy roundtable discussion hosted by Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Wednesday, September 14, 2011. Details about the event are here.
The Free State Foundation invites you to help celebrate its Fifth Anniversary of its founding at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on October 12, 2011. Senator Jim DeMint, Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, will deliver opening keynote remarks. We want you to celebrate with us, as we look back at the past five years, and, most importantly, ahead to the next five. Indeed, the theme of our program is: "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years." A complimentary lunch will be served, subject to space limitations and reservations. Register now!
In a Media Advisory statement, Free State Foundation President Randolph May called the USF Plan submitted on July 29, 2011, by six telecom providers a positive step forward on the road to reforming the universal service subsidy regime. Read the statement here.
Video Available -- A link to the video of the Free State Foundation's Universal Service/Intercarrier Compensation Reform Seminar, held Wednesday, July 13, 2011, at the National Press Club, is here.
Speakers announced for the Free State Foundation's July 13 Seminar on Universal Service - Intercarrier Compensation Reform! Register now to attend the Free State Foundation's Seminar on July 13, 2011, 8:45-11:00 a.m., at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. Expert industry and academic speakers will explore issues concerning the FCC's promise -- yet again -- to reform the uneconomic and inefficient legacy Universal Service and Intercarrier Compensation subsidy regimes. The FCC is promising to act this summer, so this seminar could not be more timely. And, with the current Universal Service surcharge at 15% for all long distance and international calls, the topic couldn't be more important for consumers confronting taxing times.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May testified at the June 22, 2011, hearing on "Reforming FCC Process" before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. In his testimony, May supported most of the reforms in the Committee's "Discussion Draft" and commended the Committee for its efforts. He suggested that, in addition to the proposals in the "Discussion Draft," the committee should consider amending the forbearance and regulatory review provisions of the Communications Act in line with his proposal to establish a deregulatory evidentiary presumption.
Job Opening for Senior Economic Policy Analyst: The Free State Foundation is seeking to hire an economist with experience regarding regulated industries. Some expertise regarding communications and Internet policy is a definite plus. The ability to analyze market structure and competition in dynamic markets characterized by rapid technological advances, as well as to perform cost-benefit analysis of regulatory proposals is required. Click here to view a full job description.
Randolph J. May, President of the Free State Foundation, will participate on a panel at a "Focus on the First Amendment" program presented by the Federal Communications Bar Association Mass Media Committee in association with the Freedom Forum and the ABA Forum on Communications Law on Thursday afternoon, May 5, 2011, at the Newseum in Washington, DC. May's panel will address Is Net Neutrality the New Fairness Doctrine? Other First Amendment topics include the Future of Media proceeding and Supreme Court trends.
Deborah Taylor Tate, Free State Foundation Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow and former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, recently hosted a 4-part series, Leadership and Civility in the Digital Age, A Series to Help You Survive, Thrive and Lead in the Digital Age. As part of the series at Lipscomb University, Tate held a conversation with current FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell during which they addressed the opposing tensions of safety and security in the free flow of information and access to existing technology, and how FCC regulation seeks to balance the two. Other topics in this important series included "Building Community Through Technology" and "Digital Citizenship and the First Amendment."
On April 27, 2011, Deborah Taylor Tate, Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Free State Foundation and former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actor and Founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, joined together to launch the Healthy MEdia: Commission for Positive Images of Women and Girls. The Commission's goal is to lead a national conversation about how to ensure the creation of positive media environment for all children, with a main focus on transforming the approach to gender equality and images of women and girls in the media. Tate has been recognized for her work on child online safety by the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day Laureate and was recently appointed the ITU's Global Special Envoy for child online activities. A press release is here.
On April 18, 2011, National Review Online published an essay by Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May entitled, "Rolling Back Regulation at the FCC: How Congress Can Let Competition Flourish." May argues that in 1996, in amending the Communications Act, "Congress concluded, correctly, that the development of more competition and more consumer choice should lead to reduced regulation." May contends, "[a] simple regulatory reform measure could be adopted now to better effectuate what Congress intended to be the 1996 act's deregulatory tilt." The FCC should be required to presume, absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, that the Communications Act's consumer protection and public interest criteria have been satisfied. Read the entire article here.
In his new study, FSF's Seth Cooper contends First Amendment problems plague the FCC's AllVid proposal -- "The AllVid Proposal's First Amendment Problem: Exploring the FCC's Constitutionally Defective Device Regulation."
On March 1, 2011, Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May will participate on a panel of leading experts at the TechFreedom Hill Net Neutrality briefing in Washington, DC. The panel will follow Congressman Marsha Blackburn's (R-TN) keynote on "Decoding the FCC's Net Neutrality Order."
Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May will participate in a panel presentation at the Institute for Policy Innovation's (IPI) third annual Communications Summit in Washington, DC on March 2, 2011. The panel is entitled "Network Innovation and Internet Regulation: Friends or Enemies?" Prominent thought leaders will discuss the future of and current issues facing the wireless and broadband industries. Mr. May and the other panelists will engage in a provocative discussion concerning whether Internet regulation in the form of the FCC's new net neutrality rules is friendly or anathema to network innovation.
The February 4, 2011, Free State Foundation's Third Annual Winter Telecom Policy Conference was covered live by C-SPAN. Watch all conference sessions here.
The agenda for the Free State Foundation's Third Annual Winter Telecom Policy Conference has been released. FCC Commissioners Meredith Atwell Baker and Robert McDowell headline an all-star lineup of high-ranking government offcials, industry representaives, and academics. The conference is February 4, 2011, at the National Press Club. Registration information is on the agenda. Sign-in and continental breakfast begin at 8:30 AM.
The January 3, 2011, Daily Caller published an essay by Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May entitled "The FCC Risks Over-Conditioning the Comcast-MBCU Merger." May reflected that as of January 3, the FCC's clock for considering the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger was on overtime by 35 days past the FCC's self-professed goal of 180 days. "There may be so many conditions attached to the approval," stated May, "that the new entity could be constrained from realizing the economic efficiencies envisioned when the merger was conceived." Read the entire article here.
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