Net Neutrality Vets Join Obama FCC Transition Team 179
circleid writes "The Obama-Biden transition team on Friday named two long-time net neutrality advocates to head up its Federal Communications Commission Review team. Susan Crawford, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, member of the board of directors of ICANN, and OneWebDay founder, as well as Kevin Werbach, former FCC staffer, organizer of the annual Supernova technology conference, and a Wharton professor, will lead the Obama-Biden transition team's review of the FCC. 'Both are highly-regarded outside-the-Beltway experts in telecom policy, and they've both been pretty harsh critics of the Bush administration's telecom policies in the past year.' The choice of the duo strongly signals an entirely different approach to the incumbent-friendly telecom policy-making that's characterized most of the past eight-years at the FCC."
Reuters has a related story about Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who plans to introduce net neutrality legislation in January.
Re:So... (Score:5, Interesting)
Refreshing (Score:5, Interesting)
It is refreshing to see that Obama is pulling from academia and groups such as ICANN, rather than just from industry to populate his cabinet. I believe that those that have served in industry can offer some of the best insight into policy, but choosing a significant number of executives definitely skews policy in the wrong direction. For that matter, having too many of any one group leads to problems.
I hope that Obama can see beyond what his party wants, and make decisions based on advice from all sides. Lincoln and Kennedy were both known for filling their cabinets with diverse members from a wide political and social background. After the fiasco at the Bay of Pigs [wikipedia.org] Kennedy sought to limit group think [answers.com] - where all dissenting opinions are squashed by excessive group homogeneity - Kennedy specifically divided up similar advisors and brought in outside experts to help successfully diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. He had the political savvy to understand that difficult decisions have no right answer, just answers that are more or less positive for everyone.
Hopefully Obama will balance his cabinet appointments in a similar way. Drawing from universities is a good start, but some industry experts mixed into the bunch is an excellent step in the right direction as well. As L. B. Johnson said of Hoover, "I'd rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in." It's better to have dissenting opinions inside helping you make positive choices, rather than showering you from outside and making your life more difficult.
Re:Regulation is bad mmm'kay (Score:3, Interesting)
When and how was the telecom industry de-regulated?
In every state I am familiar with, there is one company that has a government granted monopoly to maintain the phone lines and to provide service over them. That's not deregulation to me.
I know that some states have laws that force that company to lease the lines to other providers, but it usually doesn't work since they aren't required to lease them at a fair price, and nobody can compete with the company that maintains the lines any way.
Re:So... (Score:3, Interesting)
Such an interesting phrase, in a discussion of net neutrality.
Note that it applies just as well to net neutrality as it does to smut on TV. Or do you really think the people screaming about net neutrality are anything other than a vocal minority? Hint: most people neither know nor care about net neutrality.
Re:Refreshing (Score:2, Interesting)
oh please...there are "tards" (as you so eloquently put it) on both extremes. I don't paint left wingers with the same brush as Stalin just as I shouldn't be painted with some racist overtone. The point the picture [terribly] put it is that most on my side of the aisle are wondering what exactly is going to change and how? The message of "change" has come from just about every candidate if it was popular - Reagan, Clinton, Bush (2), Kerry and now Obama. Have they changed in the way they promised? And as the Obama appointees are shaping up its looking more like the Clintons are back in so not much change there. The point the GP is making is right on - lets not start the accomplishment celebrations until they've actually happened...2 months before he's actually started is a tad premature. And besides, there is precedence for this - Labour (UK) in '97 - almost identical to the Obama campaign in so many respects...and that administration is now loathed and renegaded on so many of their promises.