Politico...
Net Neutrality author
Genachowski draws ire from all sides
By Brooks Boliek & Kim Hart
5/8/11
Julius Genachowski is nobody’s angel.
To conservatives, the chairman of the FCC is a regulatory zealot, bent
on making the free market conform to a government-mandated vision.
To liberals, he’s a would-be champion who sold them out when the going
got tough, watering down his landmark net neutrality proposal to
appease the other side.
In many ways, he faces some of the same criticism from both sides that
has plagued President Barack Obama, Genachowski’s law school buddy. In
trying to strike the right balance in their policies, both men have
managed to tick off their supporters as well as their detractors.
For his part, Genachowski takes it in stride. He’s withstood political
heat over such issues as net neutrality, and new fires are just being
lit for the agency’s review of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.
The devil is, after all, in the details. Genachowski told POLITICO that
the commission is fleshing those out, all while pushing a broader
agenda that focuses on expanding broadband and freeing up new airwaves
for wireless services — also two of Obama’s top tech priorities.
“When you think back to last year, no one was talking about broadband,
no one was talking about the spectrum crunch,” he said. Those issues
are now top drawer, thanks to Genachowski.
“I feel very good about it,” he added. “That doesn’t mean it’s done —
we have a lot more work to do.”
Still, another signature priority — net neutrality — has been a thorn
in Genachowski’s side. The FCC adopted rules requiring network
operators to treat all Web traffic equally. Liberals wanted the order
to go further. Conservatives thought the order went too far.
One of the first Republican moves since winning control of the House
was a resolution of disapproval to roll back the FCC’s net neutrality
rules. The resolution passed largely on party lines and would
ultimately face a presidential veto if the Senate approves. But it sent
a message.
“Rather than serving as an impartial expert and authority, the
commission seems to be advancing a policy agenda of its own, often by
twisting the arms of those who have come before it,” Rep. Fred Upton
(R-Mich.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said during
the debate.
Genachowski prefers to focus on the issue that could define his tenure:
extending high-speed Internet service to every corner of the country.
To that end, he wants broadcasters to volunteer to give up some of
their airwaves and auction them off to the highest bidder in the
wireless industry. He also wants to reform a nearly $9 billion-a-year
subsidy program to help build broadband networks in rural and
low-income areas.
Both parties in Congress support those broader goals.
“It’s hard to get anything done in Washington, so that’s life,” he
said. “But the bipartisan draw around this has been strong.”
Read the rest of the story at Politico
|
