PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR
1 edit | Freedom of Information Act == A Very Good Thing It's been used by all sides of the political spectrum to bring some sunshine into the inner workings of Federal Gov't agencies.
Of course the FCC will fight this tooth and nail. If this information reveals that broadband deployment is in fact not going well in the USA, the 1996 Telecomm Act requires them to take "drastic act". And that's something Martin and the other laissez faire ideologues running the Commission are not wont to do.
I saw Martin speak at CES. I thought, "Man, he's awful young for someone so powerful". I thought of the criticism often directed at the current administration that they often choose people based more on ideological purity (a la the old Soviet Union) rather than managerial ability and experience (can anyone say, "Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job"?). And the scuttlebutt in D.C. is that Martin is extremely politically ambitious. This also means he is loathe to do anything to piss off companies he'll be dependent on for commercial time, favorable reporting, and $$$ come campaign time.
The other thing I noticed, of course, was his fervent philosophy that 100% laissez faire policies will automatically solve all telecomm issues; those instances of market failure we all heard so much about in economics class was just something the professors made up.  |
