This year marks Public Knowledge’s 20th anniversary! We’ve had 20 years of promoting freedom of expression, ensuring universal access to affordable and open networks, and upholding and protecting consumer rights.
Over these two decades, we’ve hosted many events that provide a forum for policymakers, the public, industry, and the press to exchange ideas about our core issues.
To celebrate our 20th anniversary we’ve created a year-long series of events. Once a month we invited a range of experts to discuss the issues that have been central to our work over these past 20 years. We’ve kept an ongoing list of the events below with links to the recordings. You can follow these events on social media with #20YearsOfPK.
February: 20th Anniversary Kickoff: PK’s Founding
The founders of Public Knowledge discussed the history of the organization and how it grew over time, as well as the role of public interest groups in tech policy.
March: The Untold Story of SOPA/PIPA
Defeating SOPA/PIPA didn’t happen overnight. Advocacy groups like Public Knowledge fought long and hard for years to raise the alarms about these censorship efforts. Hear the untold stories from people who were on the front lines.
April: Twenty Years of Defending Digital Ownership
Twenty years ago, we saw the creation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It was intended to modernize copyright law for the digital age. Instead, it made it much worse. Hear from long-time leaders of this fight on what got us to where we are today and what we can learn from the past 20 years.
May: Promoting the Open Internet Throughout Public Knowledge’s History
In 2014, there was a light at the end of the tunnel; Tom Wheeler, who was at the time the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, introduced net neutrality rules that received a record-breaking 4 million comments calling for reclassifying broadband as a Title II telecommunications service.
June: Not So Legacy: The Future of Voice
Hear from the experts on the lessons of communications evolutions, and what this means for the future.
July: Emerging Tech Through the Years at Public Knowledge
Hear from the people who were instrumental in leading Public Knowledge’s work on emerging technologies over the years, and learn what challenges lie ahead for emerging technology policy advocates.
November: PK’s Fellowship Training Program – Elevating Voices in Public Policy
In honor of our 20th anniversary, we looked back at the groundbreaking projects PK has led. Hear from the leaders of the program over the years and, more importantly, some of the graduates who have gone on to policy careers.