Obama's F.C.C. Pick Hailed by Reformers

Ars Technica reports: The media reform movement is celebrating reports that President-elect Barack Obama will nominate his tech counselor Julius Genachowski as Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. The Wall Street Journal broke the news late last night, and the press releases started coming in shortly thereafter.

"Under Julius Genachowski's leadership, the FCC's compass would point
toward the public interest," declared Josh Silver of Free Press.
"President-elect Obama has provided a clear roadmap of his media and
technology priorities." Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge called him an
"outstanding choice," citing Obama's Technology and Innovation Plan,
which Genachowski helped write, as evidence that "he understands the
importance of open networks and a regulatory environment that promotes
innovation and competition to a robust democracy and a health economy."

Said plan emphasizes "Open Government, Open Networks," and "Open
Markets." Beyond the slogans it takes a strong stand in favor of net
neutrality and a critical stance against media consolidation. "Barack
Obama believes that the nation's rules ensuring diversity of media
ownership are critical to the public interest," it says.
"Unfortunately, over the past several years, the Federal Communications
Commission has promoted the concept of consolidation over diversity."

Various observers have suggested that it is unlikely that a Genachowski FCC would have approved the AT&T/BellSouth and Sirius XM mergers, as did current chair Kevin Martin--not to mention the modification of the Commission's newspaper/TV cross-ownership restrictions, loosened in November of 2007.

As Ars has reported, Genachowski served as Senior Legal Advisor to FCC Chair Reed Hundt in the mid-1990s, then worked the dot-com scene for a spell, sitting on the boards of JackBe.Com, Expedia Inc, Hotels.com, the Motley Fool, and Ticketmaster. Plus, he served as general counsel to General Atlantic, Interactive Corp., USA Networks, and USA Broadcasting.

It is, however, less clear how Obama's new nominee will be received by the various sectors of the telecommunications industry that he will regulate. No word yet from the National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association on the reported pick.

The American Cable Association did send Ars a somewhat circumspect statement calling Genachowski a "good" choice. "The next several years will present opportunities and obstacles in the technology and communications industries, including the coming DTV transition and the Government's effort to deploy broadband in underserved areas," declared ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka.

Indeed, if Obama choice Genachowski is vetted and confirmed by the early side of this year, he could be in for quite a ride. His boss is already calling for a delay of the DTV transition from its current date of February 17. And an impressive pile of unfinished business awaits the FCC's next Chair, including fixing the Universal Service Fund and dealing with the public safety D Block, among other thorny matters.

And we still don't know who will replace outgoing Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate and possibly yet another agency departure as well. A whole lot of balls up in the air right now, and they may not come back down to earth for a spell.

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