Reforming the Federal Communications Commission

@ Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
January 5, 2009

Video

For viewing the video recordings of the conference, click here.

Special Event Website

Papers presented at the conference and ongoing discussion on the relevant issues are available at fcc-reform.org.

Co-presented by Public Knowledge

The world once known as "telecommunications" is changing dramatically. New technologies, new business models and new policy challenges lie ahead. The critical question for governmental policy in this sector is easy to state, but harder to answer: Is the Federal Communications Commission truly equipped to deal with immediate challenges that it will face?

That question is being asked today by policymakers from Capitol Hill and around the country. And it is at the core of a growing chorus of commentators who call for reform of how the FCC operates.

To explore the future of the FCC, we will convene a leading group of academics, current and former FCC officials, and leaders from the public interest community. We will compare future visions, explore historical lessons and, though a series of papers specially written for this conference, offer a comprehensive set of recommendations for the creation of an FCC well-prepared to confront contemporary challenges.

Welcome	9:00am - 9:10am
Gigi B. Sohn Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow University of Colorado President and Co-founder Public Knowledge Phil Weiser Executive Director Silicon Flatirons Professor University of Colorado Law School
Introductory Remarks	9:10am - 9:20am
Hon. Michael Copps FCC Commissioner
The Future of the FCC as an Institution	9:20am - 10:30am
Mark Cooper Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow University of Colorado Director of Research Consumer Federation of America Pierre de Vries Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow University of Colorado Michael Marcus Marcus Spectrum Solutions LLC Jessica Rosenworcel Senate Commerce Committee Jonathan Sallet Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow University of Colorado Managing Director The Glover Park Group Phil Weiser Executive Director Silicon Flatirons Professor University of Colorado Law School Moderator Gigi B. Sohn Silicon Flatirons Senior Adjunct Fellow University of Colorado President and Co-founder Public Knowledge
Break	10:30am - 10:45am
The Past as Prologue: Lessons from History on the Road to Reform	10:45am - 11:55am
Kathleen Abernathy Partner Wilkinson Barker & Knauer Former FCC Commissioner Kathryn C. Brown Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility Verizon Kyle Dixon Partner Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP Former Media Bureau Deputy Chief FCC Henry Geller Former Administrator NTIA Ellen Goodman Professor of Law Rutgers University-Camden Nick Johnson Professor of Law University of Iowa Former FCC Commissioner Moderator Phil Weiser Executive Director Silicon Flatirons Professor University of Colorado Law School
Keynote Discussion	11:55am - 12:40pm
Reed Hundt Senior Advisor McKinsey Former FCC Chairman Bill Kennard Managing Director Carlyle Group Former FCC Chairman

Conference Videos

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Conference Papers and Speech Texts

Select papers from our conferences are published in the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law. To subscribe, contact the journal at jthtl@colorado.edu.

Publications

Phil Weiser's paper entitled FCC Reform and the Future of Telecommunications Policy is available here.

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A Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado