Public Knowledge

Public Knowledge
Formation	2001; 23 years ago
Type	Non-profit organization
Purpose	Communications law and policy, intellectual property, technology policy
Headquarters	Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.
Website	publicknowledge.org

Public Knowledge is an American non-profit public interest group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2001 by David Bollier, Gigi Sohn, and Laurie Racine, Public Knowledge is primarily involved in the fields of intellectual property law, competition and choice in the digital marketplace, and an open standards/end-to-end internet.

History

Public Knowledge was founded in 2001 by David Bollier, Gigi Sohn, and Laurie Racine.^[1] Gigi Sohn served as president and CEO from 2001–2013 and Gene Kimmelman served as president and CEO from 2013–2019. Since 2019, Chris Lewis has served as president and CEO.^[2]

Public Knowledge promotes technology policies that benefit the public through many different channels, including the media and social platforms, U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and court and agency filings. The organization also conducts research to propose new legislation, regulations, and recommendations for the ever-expanding digital and technological world. Finally, Public Knowledge frequently publishes blog posts, opinion pieces, and papers to apply their work to current events, and hosts convenings and multimedia resources to educate the public and connect them to policymaking in Washington, DC.

Board of directors

The following individuals are on the board as of March 2023.^[3]

Board chair and senior vice president, Starry, Inc., Virginia Lam Abrams
Internet Archive director and cofounder Brewster Kahle
Director of policy, Patreon, Laurent Crenshaw
CEO and founder, Glen Echo Group, Maura Corbett
Founding partner of Integrated Solutions Group, Moses Boyd
General Ccunsel, Expa, Michal Rosenn
Founder of Slaiman Consulting LLC, Gary Slaiman
General manager of Microsoft's global airband initiative, Vickie Robinson
Principal at LC Public Affairs, Marcus Reese
Chief investment officer of Connect Humanity, Brian Vo

Former members of the board

Michael J. Copps – former FCC commissioner, special adviser to the media and democracy reform initiative at Common Cause
Andrew McLaughlin – partner, betaworks; cofounder and partner, Higher Ground Labs
Michael Petricone – senior vice president for government affairs, Consumer Technology Association
Frank C. Torres, III – director of consumer affairs and senior policy counsel, Microsoft
Kevin Werbach – professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Hal Abelson – professor of computer science and engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Leah Belsky – vice president of strategic development and associate general counsel, Kaltura
David Bollier – writer and founder of the Commons Strategies Group^[4]
Hal Bringman – founder and president of NVPR^[5]
Susan P. Crawford – professor, University of Michigan Law School
Jesse Dylan – founder, Wondros
Lawrence Lessig – professor of law, Stanford Law School
Warrington Hudlin – founder, dvRepublic
Reed Hundt – former chair, Federal Communications Commission
Joichi Ito – former director, MIT Media Lab
Laurie Racine – founder, managing director, Startl^[6]
Gigi B. Sohn – founder of Public Knowledge; counselor to former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler
Jonathan Taplin – adjunct professor, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Kathleen Wallman – president, Wallman Consulting LLC

Policy areas

Public Knowledge focuses on many different issues within the space of technology and media, highlighting the intersection of copyright, telecommunications, and internet law. Its mission statement promises that the public interest group "promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works."^[7]

The organization has worked in the courts and alongside Congress and government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to advocate for a more open and equitable internet experience. Public Knowledge is known for its nuanced thought analysis and policy proposals, such as its Section 230 principles to protect free expression online,^{[according to whom?]} its proposal for a digital regulator, and its alternative frameworks for algorithmic accountability.

As of March 2023, the organization advocates for net neutrality, platform competition, consumer privacy, broadband accessibility and affordability, content moderation, a competitive media landscape, reforming copyright to benefit artists and creators, and reforming spectrum management to help consumers gain wireless access — without losing consumer protections along the way.

Public Knowledge has played a key role in securing broadband privacy rules, net neutrality rules, and expanding spectrum access for unlicensed use.^{[according to whom?]} It has also run successful campaigns for issues such as improving internet access in tribal communities and unlock of cell phones.^{[citation needed]} Public Knowledge has led coalitions for efforts such as including broadband funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.^{[citation needed]}

PKTrains

PKTrains is Public Knowledge's public interest advocate training program. It was launched in 2014 with the goal of educating diverse, aspiring public policymakers. It offers early-career fellows and interns an opportunity to work side-by-side with Public Knowledge's lawyers, public interest advocates, and communications professionals to learn how to effectively promote policies that benefit the public. Since its launch, the PKTrains program has trained more than 20 full-time post-graduate fellows and many more student interns, externs, and others passionate about making the world a better place through good policymaking that puts people first.