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FCC Creates Consumer Task Force
Will they get as much face time as telco lobbyists?
by Karl Bode Thursday 21-Jan-2010 tags: fcc · consumers
The FCC this week announced (pdf) that the agency has created a new "Consumer Task Force" headed by Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Gurin was also a former journalist, and a former Executive Vice President of Consumers Union (CU), the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. The new task force will "play a critical role in ensuring that Commission proceedings take account of consumer interests," while making sure "that consumer protection and empowerment policies apply consistently and reasonably across technologies and bureaus at the FCC."

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n2jtx

join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
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Ha ha!

They probably won't even give Joel Gurin their phone number or the correct address where they hold their meetings. Just like my former employer used to cheerfully recruit people telling them we had flexible hours(*). The asterisk being only with your managers permission and your manager had orders from higher up not to grant such requests. Makes good advertising but does nothing.
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Gbcue
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Re: Ha ha!

said by n2jtx:

They probably won't even give Joel Gurin their phone number or the correct address where they hold their meetings. Just like my former employer used to cheerfully recruit people telling them we had flexible hours(*). The asterisk being only with your managers permission and your manager had orders from higher up not to grant such requests. Makes good advertising but does nothing.
I guess only time will tell if he's effective at doing anything.
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Romney2012
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A gov't task force is just a bureaucratic way of spreading responsibility around so that NO ONE is actually responsible for accomplishing something. If something comes up about policy that the commissioners don't want to deal with, they will just say that the task force is looking into it.

The Task Force will include every Commission Bureau Chief, the Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, the General Counsel, and the Managing Director.
What a waste of time and effort by having all these dept heads attending mtgs that will never accomplish a thing.
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dks7

join:2004-05-31
Omak, WA

Meh

Great, even MORE government, just what I was lacking in my life.

hhawkman
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join:2001-02-08
Port Hueneme, CA

First thing

They should all be required to read this site on a daily basis.

Gbcue
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Re: First thing

said by hhawkman:

They should all be required to read this site on a daily basis.
And The Consumerist.
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sonicmerlin

join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH
kudos:1

Hmm...

I wonder if this has anything to do with the Democrats' loss in Massachusetts.

It certainly doesn't take a genius to see that Obama's proposal of widespread reform of the banking system 2 days after the senate seat loss was a direct result of his realizing his rather conservative, non-liberal policies were screwing over his popularity rating.

Perhaps this Consumer Task Force is exactly the same thing. If it is, then in some way maybe the loss in Massachusetts was a blessing in disguise. The democrats are being forced to actually appeal to their constituents, instead of playing good ol' boy with the financial elite.

Bill Dollar

join:2009-02-20
New York, NY

Re: Hmm...

Hate to burst the conspiracy theory bubble, at the December 16th Open Commission Meeting, Genachowski announced the hiring of Gurin and the intention to create this Task Force.

But this is all window dressing. This FCC and this Chairman are overly cautious, and optics are more important to them than action. What little they have done has benefited one big interest or another, and ultimately the impact on consumers will not match the PR packaging.

dks7

join:2004-05-31
Omak, WA

1 edit
said by sonicmerlin:

I wonder if this has anything to do with the Democrats' loss in Massachusetts.

It certainly doesn't take a genius to see that Obama's proposal of widespread reform of the banking system 2 days after the senate seat loss was a direct result of his realizing his rather conservative, non-liberal policies were screwing over his popularity rating.

Perhaps this Consumer Task Force is exactly the same thing. If it is, then in some way maybe the loss in Massachusetts was a blessing in disguise. The democrats are being forced to actually appeal to their constituents, instead of playing good ol' boy with the financial elite.
Maybe, that is if you believe the left-right paradigm is seperate. Repub or Demo, doesn't matter, they all shake hands behind the iron curtain.
Sammer

join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

1 edit

Are they serious?

The real question is whether they are serious about making sure "that consumer protection and empowerment policies apply consistently and reasonably across technologies and bureaus at the FCC." If the party currently in power accomplishes that and some other things that are good for consumers (such as government transparency) it will do them a lot more good than the back room deals that cost them no less than the so-called "Kennedy" seat. Hopefully it's not just lip service but they are starting to realize that at least some of the public is paying attention and is angry about the rampant corporatism in D.C.

Van
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join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA

Good article but do we really think this

task force will get their final results to be implemented?

Anything Pro-Consumer that slightly has anything negative towards Corporations will have little to no chance of ever seeing the light of day

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