The Free State Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank. Its purpose is to promote, through research and educational activities, understanding of free market, limited government, and rule of law principles at the federal level and in Maryland.
FSF focuses on eliminating unnecessary and counterproductive regulatory mandates, especially those applicable to the communications and other high-tech industries, and on reducing overly burdensome taxes, protecting individual and economic liberty, and making government more effective, efficient, and accountable.
Who We Are
Led by Randolph J. May, FSF's President, the scholars of The Free State Foundation have decades of experience in the public policy arena and academic settings promoting free markets, secure property rights, and individual liberty. Mr. May is a nationally known legal and policy expert in the field of regulation, as well as a widely recognized expert in communications, administrative, and constitutional law. FSF's scholars combine solid academic expertise with professional and practical experience in a way that makes their research especially impactful in influencing both federal and state public policy.
New at FSF
View a May 14, 2012, live video interview with Free State Foundation President Randolph J. May and the Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley for the WSJ Opinion Journal Live program. Netflix, net neutrality, spectrum policy were the topics discussed.
Deborah Taylor Tate, Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Free State Foundation and former Federal Communications Commissioner, received an award on May 9, 2012, from Crittenton Services of Greater Washington, which runs educational programs for girls. After receiving the award for her children’s advocacy work, she told a roomful of teenage girls to “Aim high, and don’t be afraid to ask for help during the climb.” Tate is the co-chair of the Healthy MEdia Commission and the first ITU Special Envoy for Child Online Protection.
Register now for the Free State Foundation’s lunch seminar, May 30, 2012, 11:45 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the National Press Club. The seminar, titled "The Multi-Stakeholder Private Internet Governance Model: Can It Survive Threats From The UN?," will address threats to the survival of the current multi-stakeholder privatized Internet governance model posed by competing government-control models put forward in the United Nation's International Telecommunications Union and other international venues. The seminar will focus especially on the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 (WCIT - 12), to be held this coming December, at which Internet governance issues are expected to be addressed. The lead speakers will be Richard Beaird, Senior Deputy United States Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy - Department of State, and FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell. The commenters will be Jacquelynn Ruff, Vice President, International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Verizon; Gigi Sohn, President, Public Knowledge; and Richard Whitt, Director and Managing Counsel for Public Policy, Google.
Deborah Taylor Tate, Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Free State Foundation, former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and Co-Chair of the Healthy MEdia Commission, will moderate a panel at Common Sense Media’s May 10, 2012, symposium addressing the cognitive, social, & emotional impact of media on children’s lives. The symposium, "The Impact of Media on the Health & Well-Being of Children," will be held at from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
View a slideshow of the Free State Foundation’s Fourth Annual Telecom Policy Conference, "The Internet World: Will It Remain Free From Public Utility Regulation?" held on March 20, 2012, at the National Press Club.
Videos of the Free State Foundation's Fourth Annual Telecom Policy Conference, "The Internet World: Will It Remain Free From Public Utility Regulation?" held on March 20, 2012, at the National Press Club, are available here. For your convenience, the conference sessions are broken into five video segments – the three keynote presentations of Steve Moore, Mignon Clyburn, and Danny Weitzner, plus Panels I & II.
The agenda is now available for the Free State Foundation's Fourth Annual Telecom Policy Conference. The conference is Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 8:30 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. at the National Press Club. The agenda and registration information is here.
Steve Moore, Editorial Board Member and Senior Economics Writer for the Wall Street Journal, will deliver the opening keynote address at the Free State Foundation's Fourth Annual Telecom Policy Conference on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, at the National Press Club. He joins FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who will participate in a lunchtime keynote conversation with FSF President Randolph May. In addition, an outstanding line-up of leading experts from government, industry, academia, and think tanks will discuss and debate the most important communications policy issues of the day. The conference theme is "The Internet World: Will It Remain Free From Public Utility Regulation?" Register now!
Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation, conducted a podcast with the Heartland Institute to discuss his new book, A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform, on January 12, 2012. Bruce Edward Walker, Managing Editor, Infotech and Telecom News for the Heartland Institute, conducted the interview with Mr. May, who addressed his various proposals for changing the Communications Act.
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. The book is a collection of eight of Mr. May's law review articles, with a Foreword that places the articles in the context of a free market-oriented communications policy reform framework that is consistent with fundamental constitutional principles. For those seriously interested in reforming communications law and policy, the book is an essential work. A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy 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.
Here is the program brochure for tomorrow's, October 12, 2011, Free State Foundation's Fifth Anniversary Celebration Lunch at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. If you have not registered and would like to attend, please click here for registration information.
Rep. Cliff Stearns, Chairman, House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has joined the outstanding line-up of keynote speakers along with Sen. Jim DeMint, Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Vice-Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, for the Free State Foundation's October 12, 2011, Fifth Anniversary Celebration Lunch at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Our program – "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years" – includes a complimentary lunch, subject to space limitations and reservations. Register now!
At the Fifth Anniversary celebration of the Free State Foundation on October 12, 2011, at the Mayflower Hotel, five FSF Scholars will look to the future and speak on the following topics: Michelle Connolly, Duke University – spectrum policy; Ellen Goodman, Rutgers School of Law – Camden – public media; Daniel Lyons, Boston College Law School – USF reform; Steven Wildman, Michigan State University – media policy; and Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania Law School – Internet regulatory policy. A complimentary lunch will be served, subject to space limitations and confirmed reservations.
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.
Senior Fellows
The Free State Foundation's Senior Fellows and Staff are acknowledged experts in their academic and professional fields, and their accomplishments have been widely recognized. They have held senior positions in academia, government, and business. Their expertise and experience on state and federal policy matters spans the disciplines of law, economics, business strategy, and organizational management.
View the video of FSF's March 20, 2012, Fourth Annual Telecom Policy Conference
"The Internet World: Will It Remain Free From Public Utility Regulation?"
View the slideshow of The Free State Foundation’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration Lunch held on October 12, 2011, at the Mayflower Hotel here .
View the video of the Free State Foundation's October 12, 2011 Fifth Anniversary Celebration Lunch program, "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years."
View C-SPAN's video of the Free State Foundation's April 12, 2011 Seminar, "Regulatory Reform at the FCC: Why Not Now?"
View a slideshow of FSF's April 12, 2011, "Regulatory Reform at the FCC: Why Not Now?" Seminar here.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It is sufficiently obvious, that persons and property are the two great subjects on which Governments are to act; and that the rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for which Government was instituted. These rights cannot well be separated." James Madison
For more information, contact: info@freestatefoundation.org Mailing Address: The Free State Foundation, P. O. Box 60680, Potomac, MD 20859 Office Location: 6259 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852 Phone: 301-984-8253
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