The National Cable & Telecommunications
Association and the Motion Picture Association of America are celebrating Free
Speech Week, which kicks off Monday, by co-hosting a discussion with iconic
First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams Oct. 22, moderated by Barbara Cochran, Curtis B.
Hurley Chair in Public Policy Journalism at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism.
MPAA Chair Chris Dodd is
chairman of the Free Speech Weed Advisory council and NCTA president Michael Powell
is a member of the council.
Abrams is a partner
in Cahill Gordon & Reindel and has argued numerous cases before the Supreme
Court, represented the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case, and has
represented ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Time Magazine, and others in trials and
appeals.
Free Speech Week,
always the third week in October, was founded by The Media Institute and
provides a forum for discussion/celebration of First Amendment freedoms. This
year's partners, in addition to NCTA and MPAA, include the
National Association of Broadcasters, USTelecom, the Consumer Electronics
Association, The Newspaper Association of America, Clear Channel, NPR, and
various colleges and Universities.
Organizers encourage
participants--schools, PTAs, companies--to display their support for First
Amendment rights by exercising them, from displaying a bumper sticker or yard
sign, to blogging, tweeting, debating or writing their legislator.
For more ideas on
celebrating Free Speech week, check out http://www.freespeechweek.org/.
