Progress and Freedom Foundation Closes Doors

Dwindling resources cause think tank to shut down after 17 years

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/30/2010 4:49:00 PM

The Progress and Freedom Foundation, a free market and free speech think tank, has closed its doors.

According to Adam Thierer, President and Director, Center for Digital Media Freedom, the ranks had recently dwindled to six employees.

"Basically I am walking out the door in an hour and I am the last man out," He told B&C midafternoon Thursday. "Everyone else was terminated or resigned over the past couple of weeks."

"We just no longer have the resources to make ends meet. We can't be a think tank without somebody paying the bills," Thierer added.

PFF was founded in 1993. Its charter most recently has been as a "market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy." For example, just two weeks ago it filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court "urging the Court to protect the free speech rights of videogame creators."

Thierer has been a familiar face at Hill hearings, including weighing in on network neutrality and mergers. He has also been a staunch defender of the First Amendment and written extensively about issues from privacy to Title II.