JANUARY 14, 2009 Obama's Pick for FCC Signals Change
By AMY SCHATZ and SHIRA OVIDE Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189367347579431.html President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Julius Genachowski to lead the Federal Communications Commission signals that issues affecting telecommunications and media companies will take a high profile in the administration. Mr. Genachowski, one of Mr. Obama's Harvard Law School classmates, sometime basketball teammate and adviser during the presidential campaign, would bring a background both as a technology-industry executive and regulator to the position. Industry and consumer groups are scouring a nine-page technology plan released by the Obama team in 2007 for indications about what Mr. Genachowski -- who masterminded the plan -- might do at the agency. Mr. Obama pledged in his plan to revamp government programs to expand the reach of high-speed Internet service. Mr. Obama also expressed support for "network neutrality," which prohibits carriers from moving some Internet traffic faster at the expense of other traffic. The latter is a contentious issue for big Internet, cable and phone companies, as well as start-ups. Broadcasters are keenly interested in whether Mr. Genachowski will take a more moderate approach to enforcement of indecency standards. Thousands of complaints backed up at the FCC over the past few years after the agency's tougher enforcement policies -- and multimillion dollar fines -- were challenged in court by broadcasters. Mr. Obama's plan advocated using technology to help "protect our children while preserving the First Amendment." Hollywood and broadcasters interpreted those statements as code that an Obama FCC would revert to its pre-Bush-administration days of restrained enforcement and smaller fines. Mr. Genachowski's expected appointment to the FCC is a homecoming of sorts. He served as the top policy attorney to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt during the early years of the Clinton administration, when it held major cellphone-airwave auctions and infuriated broadcasters by suggesting they pay for the digital airwaves they now use. A former Supreme Court clerk for Justices David Souter and William Brennan, Mr. Genachowski is described as warm, smart and tireless by former co-workers -- "a perpetual motion machine," said his former colleague Dara Khosrowshahi, who now is chief executive of Expedia Inc. For the past decade, Mr. Genachowski, 46 years old, has been out of government serving on corporate boards, working his way up the ladder at Internet and media conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp from general counsel to head of business development and, later, forming his own venture capital firm. Mr. Genachowski didn't return calls for comment. "The Obama campaign and administration has just lucked onto the fact that they have someone this talented," said IAC founder Barry Diller. Industry and consumer groups were quick to praise Mr. Obama's choice Tuesday. The National Association of Broadcasters, which sparred with Mr. Genachowski during his FCC days, called him a "superb" choice, for example. Verizon Communications Inc. called his selection "a great boost for the nation's drive to be the world leader in all things broadband." The Obama tech plan called for the U.S. to increase its definition of "high speed" Internet and reform a $7 billion federal phone-subsidy program to help cover the costs of offering broadband in rural areas. It also called for encouraging diversity in media ownership, a signal that efforts by big media companies to expand their empires could face tougher scrutiny. "I'd say to people who see this really genial guy, don't underestimate him. He can be tough when he needs to be," said Gigi Sohn, president of public-interest group Public Knowledge. She served on a board that wrote digital-television public-interest rules with Mr. Genachowski, who was then at IAC. Mr. Genachowski, if confirmed, could become point-man for fixing the transition to digital-only television. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
