Genachowski, now on Obama's transition team, has been picked to head the FCC.
This choice appears to be a good one for we, the people:
WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Consumer and public interest groups heaped praise on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, and they predicted smooth confirmation by the Senate.Information Week calls Julius a tech guru.
Obama has selected Julius Genachowski, a technology executive and former classmate from Harvard Law School, to lead the FCC, a Democratic source said late on Monday.
Genachowski was chief counsel for Reed Hundt, an FCC chairman under former President Bill Clinton. He also held various positions at Internet search and media company IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI.O) and several firms investing in technology, including Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital.
Among the FCC's mandates are regulation of telephone and cable companies, oversight of concentration of ownership of radio and television outlets, and auctioning public airwaves. Read the rest.
More on Julius from the Financial Times:
“Julius will without doubt be the first true internet chairman” of the agency, said one former FCC official. If confirmed, he was likely to make the expansion of broadband internet access a central part of his agenda, the official added. The issue has already been identified as an important part of the Obama economic stimulus package.Here is his bio at Rock Creek Ventures:
As a key aide to Barry Diller, the US media mogul, Mr Genachowski played a central role in creating IAC, now one of the largest US internet concerns. He later went on to found a venture capital firm in Washington.
Mr Genachowski was also the mastermind behind Mr Obama’s online campaign strategy during last year’s presidential election. The campaign’s pioneering use of social networking, internet video and other online techniques has since made it the blueprint for political campaigns globally.
Julius Genachowski is a cofounder and managing director of Rock Creek Ventures. He is a founding partner of LaunchBox Digital, and chairman and cofounder of Thummit, which are Rock Creek Ventures companies. Julius is also a special advisor at General Atlantic. Prior to Rock Creek Ventures, Julius was a senior executive for eight years at IAC/InterActiveCorp (1997-2005), serving as Chief of Business Operations, General Counsel, and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairman, and playing a key role in IAC's growth to become a multibillion-dollar global major e-commerce and new media company. He has served on the Boards of Directors or Advisors of several companies, including Web.com, Ticketmaster, The Motley Fool, Beliefnet (sold to NewsCorp), Truveo (sold to AOL), and Rapt (sold to Microsoft). He is part of the founding group of New Resource Bank, the country's first commercial green bank. Business Week listed Mr. Genachowski as one of 25 "Managers to Watch" in the media industry in 2005, and American Lawyer listed him as one of the "Public Sector 45" in 1997. Julius has served as Chief Counsel to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1994-1997. He was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter (1993-1994), to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (ret.) (1992-1992), and to Chief Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1991-1992). He worked in Congress in 1995-1998, on the staff of the special Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, and has worked for Senator (then Representative) Charles E. Schumer. Julius received a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Columbia College. He is on the Board of Directors of Common Sense Media, and has served on the Board of Advisors of Environmental Entrepreneurs.
