Archive for January 17th, 2009
Obama Taps Nerd Techie for FCC Post
Posted by dandriffill in Posts on January 17, 2009
The Commander-in-Geek is at it again.
The WSJ reports that Obama’s pick for FCC chairman is Julius Genachowski, Obama’s top tech adviser. He’s the mastermind of the Obama’s technology and innovation plan that supports net neutrality and ubiquitous cheap broadband. Genachowski, a Harvard Law classmate of Obama’s, served at the FCC during the Clinton years.
He promises to be a different kind of FCC chair that current chairman Kevin Martin. Most crucially (for nerds), Genachowski supports net neutrality, while Martin was opposed to it.
Martin also had a streak of relaxing media ownership rules, while Genachowski’s plans call for “media-ownership rules that encourage more diversity.” Meaning big telecoms like Verizon and Comcast are going to be sad pandas.
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- all stemming from the notorious Janet Jackson ‘wardrobe malfunction’.
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. And if appointed Genachowski will take lead in bringing the US to a digital only TV nation, as the Obama camp has called for a delay to the proposed changeover next month.
