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President Obama’s FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is slowly-very slowly-taking shape. Obama June 2 nominated Republican Robert McDowell to serve another term on the FCC, leaving the normally five-person independent regulatory agency that is at the nexus of most Internet-related issues still shorthanded.
Obama has already nominated Julius Genachowski as the next FCC chairman and Mignon L. Clyburn of South Carolina to fill the Democrats’ three allotted seats on the panel, although both still await Senate confirmation. Genachowski and Clyburn will join Michael Copps, who is currently serving as acting chairman. Clyburn is scheduled to replace Jonathan Adelstein, who is leaving the FCC to head up the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service.
McDowell’s appointment still leaves the Republicans with one spot to fill. Reportedly, the Republicans are still undecided on whom to push for the post.
Genachowski is widely considered to be the architect of Obama’s Technology and Innovation Plan, which supports the “principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.” He is the former top aide to two former Democratic FCC chairmen, co-founder and managing director of LaunchBox Digital and Rock Creek Ventures, a former executive with Barry Diller’s IAC and a board member of several Internet ventures, including Expedia and The Motley Fool.