Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Technocrat Genachowski to Lead FCC

I think the Obama team may have landed another big winner as the FCC chairman. He has an impressive resume in many different fields that should serve him well in an agency that is partly responsible for much of the tech landscape in the US.

The 46-year-old Genachowski is no stranger at the FCC. He cut his political teeth at the agency in the mid-1990s as a top aide to two Democratic chairman during the presidency of Bill Clinton.

Before becoming Obama's chief technology adviser, Genachowski co-founded a pair of venture capital firms that invest in technology startups. He also spent eight years as a senior executive at IAC/InterActiveCorp., a large media and Internet company with diversified holdings.


Perhaps just as important, Genachowski spent one year as clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and two years as clerk at the Supreme Court. Some of the most contentious FCC rulings end up being challenged in those courts and the agency has suffered more than a few high-profile losses.

So that means he has government experience, business experience, and even legal experience as well. I like that IAC and tech venture capital background because he may be the guy that kicks the cable companies in the ass and gets us Korean, Japanese and European broadband speeds. It is unconscionable that the country that invented the Internet is 15th when it comes to broadband.

I'm also really hoping he will be more interested in keeping the US moving forward as a tech power then with trying to censor Janet Jacksons boobs. From reading his resume and his close ties as an Obama friend since law school I think this may be the best FCC chairman they could have gotten for the job.

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