Welcome

Welcome to “Reforming the Federal Communications Commission,” a conference hosted by Public Knowledge and Silicon Flatirons, and The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The purpose of this website is to provide information and solicit your suggestions about what changes need to take place at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the agency to restore the public’s confidence that it will meet its legal obligation to promote the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” These suggestions will be and have been submitted to the new leadership at the FCC as well as the appropriate officials in the Administration. We will also look for opportunities to focus on this issue once the new leadership takes on the challenges of governing.

Events:

An FCC for the Internet Age: Reform and Standard-Setting: March 5, 2010

A Conference Hosted by Silicon Flatirons, Public Knowledge and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Event Video: Part 1 (video provided by NextGenWeb through UStream)

Event Video: Part 2 (video provided by NextGenWeb through UStream)

Read PK’s FCC Reform Report Card and a detailed analysis of FCC Reforms.

Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
March 5, 2010, 9:00 AM - 12:15 PM (Light breakfast and registration at 8:30 AM)

Last year, Silicon Flatirons co-hosted events, respectively, with Public Knowledge on FCC reform, and ITIF on innovation economics and new models of governance. This conference is a follow-up and confluence of those two topics: Where do we stand on efforts at FCC reform? And how do new models of governance and standard-setting fit into that reform effort?

The preamble from the www.fcc-reform.org website summarizes the conclusions from the January 2009 conference: “The consensus was clear - the FCC has serious procedural, organizational, and cultural problems that must be addressed by the agency’s incoming leaders as soon as practicable.” While the current FCC leadership is being asked to perform many tasks, the consensus about reform is foundational to the credibility of any actions the agency might take. Accordingly, it is not too early to assess whether and how the new FCC is addressing those procedural, organizational and cultural issues and if the FCC has made progress on reform. These issues will all be addressed in the first panel.

The second panel will explore the purpose and guiding principles of standard-setting for broadband, as well as the specific topics standard-setting and mediating institutions might be well-suited to address.

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Reforming the Federal Communications Commission: January 5, 2009

This website follows up our January 5th, 2009 conference of the same name, developed as a joint project of Public Knowledge and Silicon Flatirons, a Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado. At the conference, former Chairmen, Commissioners and staff members of the agency, along with experts from academia, the public interest community, and industry evaluated how the agency operated in the past, how it operates currently, and how it might operate in the future. The consensus was clear — the FCC has serious procedural, organizational, and cultural problems that must be addressed by the agency’s incoming leaders as soon as practicable.

On this website, we will post the papers related to the conference, including Phil Weiser’s keynote paper, the panelists written responses to it, and former FCC General Counsel Henry Geller’s April 1974 paper entitled “A Modest Proposal to Reform the Federal Communications Commission,” which until now has never been available on line, and which clearly demonstrates that FCC reform is a topic whose time has come. The website also has a comprehensive bibliography of resources related to the topic, many of which were written by the conference panelists.

Again, we are seeking thoughtful input from you, the public. Submit your own response to Phil’s paper or any of the others. Provide brief comments or suggestions. Supplement the bibliography. Offer ideas on how we can continue to spotlight this issue. In short, we want you to become part of a conversation that will surely last well into the next four years and beyond. Thank you!

Thank you!

Gigi Sohn
President and Co-Founder, Public Knowledge

Phil Weiser
Executive Director and Founder, Silicon Flatirons Center

Robert Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation