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The Media Access Project is a nonprofit public-interest telecommunications law firm representing the public before Congress, the FCC, and the courts. Solveig Bernstein , assistant director of Telecommunications and Technology Studies at the Cato Institute , says the universal service provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that extended subsidies to cover advanced services for the first time should be repealed. The Cato Institute is known for its promotion of public policy based on individual liberties, limited government, and free markets. Those without access to telecommunications services are disenfranchised - they are unable to engage in these fundamental new forms of speech and means to participate in society. Universal service is therefore essential to enabling every American to speak and to participate in society.