DSL Prime: Politics

Republican obstructionism of a future Democratic administration has begun. Meanwhile (newsflash!) D.C. lacks engineering knowledge, so DSL Prime highlights the few who know what's going on.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV [March 11, 2008]

Martin Won't Agree to Go
Tate, Adelstein in D.C. election year politics
Debbie Tate's renomination at the FCC has been held up since last year, despite a deal that Republican Tate and Democrat Adelstein would be confirmed together. Ted Hearn now reports the problem is that Kevin Martin refuses to leave promptly if a Democrat is elected President. At the last changeover, from Clinton to Bush, Democrat Chair Kennard left early so that Republican Powell could begin to implement his program.

FCC commissioners are nominated for a fixed term, so that by law Martin could continue serving as a commissioner even if an incoming Democratic President named a new chairman. That would maintain a Republican 3-2 majority on the FCC. Democratic Senate Leader Reid wants to make sure that doesn't happen, so is refusing to confirm Tate. Things are being held together with recess appointments and other odd procedures. If the stalemate continues, Tate and Copps would probably stay in office until the new regime takes over in January. A Democratic President could then renominate Adelstein and replace Tate with a Democrat, giving his/her party FCC control. (That's the first time in my life I've referred to a possible U.S. President as her. It's a good change.)

Losing the very genial Tate while maintaining Kevin Martin could be a good thing. Martin has always been a smart, hardworking guy who has surprising depth on most issues. Kevin this year has made some gestures on open access, and made several consumer friendly decisions on the cable side. We haven't spoken lately, but my impression is he is finally learning some very important lessons: deregulation works well for some problems, but miserably for others. Lobbyists often lie, and their companies don't honor agreements. If he is becoming more thoughtful he could be the most pro-consumer Republican on the FCC in two decades. To be demonstrated. (More to come).

Reliable Sources, D.C.

Finding sources to trust is a crucial part of reporting, so I thought to give some thanks to people who've been straight with me. I'm often skeptical about the telcos, and my personal politics are to the left, so I thought to begin by acknowledging:

• David Young and Link Hoewing, Verizon lobbyists, understand the technical issues better than anyone else in D.C. who regularly speaks to reporters. Like their bosses Tom Tauke and Eric Rabe, they almost never lie, a policy that gives Verizon's lobbying team far more credibility than others. Verizon hires folks smart and informed enough to make their points without falsehoods. It's not their job to give you the whole story, of course. Ray Gifford of the Progress and Freedom Foundation is by far the best informed conservative on Internet issues. D.C. policy debates are poorer since he returned to private practice in Denver. PFF's new boss, Ken Ferree, proved to me he had a strong ethical sense when he worked at the FCC. Scott Wallsten has moved from PFF to iGrowthGlobal, and is a serious economist.

Some folks more likely to agree with me include:

• Jessica Zufulo and Blair Levin, both friends, are by far the outstanding "investment analysts" in D.C., and typically the best informed sources willing to speak publicly. Blair was chief of staff for Reed Hundt at the FCC, and Zufulo represented the state regulators. They've earned the respect of almost all the people making policy, and have unmatched access to information.
  
  
• J.H. Snider has left the New America Foundation to form iSolon.org, dedicated to democratic reform including "Citizen Assemblies." He'll continue telecom work as an affiliate of Columbia's CITI. Jim has done important work on opening wireless to new providers (DTV transition, white spaces) and consumer's choice of devices (wireless Carterfone.) If only the FCC would listen more. The majority commissioners still haven't figured out that smart radios make nearly all their wireless policies technologically obsolete.
  
  
• Harold Feld is perhaps the most quotable of the "public interest advocates;" his blog, Tales of the Sausage Factory, can be very spirited. Feld had the best informed commentary on the 700 megahertz auctions.

Reporters should never hesitate to ask FCC Commissioners for opinion directly. Most Commissioners and senior staff believe, rightly or wrongly, that the press ignores them. Both Republicans and Democrats have been helpful to me and other reporters. I haven't listed FCC and Congressional staffers here, because most are reluctant to speak on the record. Similarly, many of the best people (R.P.) aren't on the list because their job prevents them from freely talking with reporters.

My follow-up article will be unreliable sources, which I'm fact checking more carefully. For now, a few types to distrust:

• The FCC or anyone else who takes seriously a 200 Kbps definition of broadband.
  
  
• Anyone who defends a bandwidth cap below about 150 gigabytes per month, except where bandwidth costs are unusually high or the service selling for under about $20. (India, South Africa, possibly the U.K.) Ask me for the numbers if you don't get it.
  
  
• Lawyers who haven't taken the time to learn what's actually going on in the network and get things wrong. Non-engineers can learn enough to understand the issues, but many don't. Robert Pepper is a great example of what's possible. His doctorate is on political science, I believe, but he learned enough to hold his own in a room filled with MIT engineering professors and their peers.
  
  
• Second rate scholars and analysts whose primary sources are each other and telco lobbyists. There's a band of two dozen in D.C., most earning their living from the bells, who repeat each other's nonsense so many times policymakers sometimes believe it's true. Bell and Bell-funded commentators are on the reliable list above, proving taking money from corporations does not necessarily prevent honest opinions. But check three times if someone is often paid by these guys.

Copyright 2008 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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