[Infowarrior] - Genachowski to Lead F.C.C.

[Richard Forno]

Obama to Select Genachowski to Lead F.C.C.
By Stephen Labaton
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/obama-to-select-genachowski-to-lead-fcc/?hp

President-elect Barack Obama intends to nominate Julius Genachowski ,  
an adviser on technology issues and longtime friend, to become the  
next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, advisers to  
Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Genachowski, 46, was a major fund-raiser for the Obama campaign  
who also played a leading role in the campaign’s highly successful  
online strategy. He remains very close to Mr. Obama—both men went to  
Columbia College and Harvard Law School and the two served together on  
the Harvard Law Review. They also were basketball buddies.

During the campaign, Mr. Genachowski shaped many of Mr. Obama’s  
telecom policies. He advocated an open Internet in the debate over so- 
called “net neutrality,’’ and media-ownership rules that promote a  
diversity of voices on the airwaves.

People involved in the transition said that Mr. Genachowski was a top  
candidate for both the chairmanship and a new White House position  
overseeing technology issues that has not been fully defined yet.

If confirmed, one of his first challenges at the commission will be  
what to do about the problems plaguing the conversion to digital  
television. The Obama transition team has asked Congress to delay the  
conversion, set for Feb. 17, because millions of viewers have been  
unable to obtain coupons to pay for converter boxes that would enable  
their sets to receive signals once all broadcasters lose their analog  
signal. (The conversion will not affect viewers who subscribe to cable  
or satellite television services.)

The chairmanship of the F.C.C. has played a more expansive role in  
regulating the economy, particularly with the rise of the Internet and  
wireless communications over the last 20 years. Now, as the new  
administration plans to make the expansion of broadband and Internet  
services a significant part of its stimulus package, Mr. Genachowski,  
with his close ties to Mr. Obama, could wind up with an even bigger  
role than his predecessors in shaping economic policy.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Genachowski clerked for federal  
appeals court judge Abner J. Mikva after Mr. Obama turned down the  
same job. Mr. Genachowski then clerked for Supreme Court Justice David  
H. Souter. He was chief counsel to Reed Hundt, a chairman of the  
Federal Communications Commission, during the Clinton administration.  
He then worked for eight years as a senior executive at Barry Diller’s  
IAC/Interactive Corporation. He also founded an investment and  
advisory firm for digital media companies and co-founded the country’s  
first commercial “green’’ bank.