Part of the continuing problem with the telecom sector (well, most sectors, and not just in the States) is that there's a revolving door between industry lobbyists and regulators, which creates a legion of regulators who simply nod dumbly at corporations as they search for their next paying gig. While that's certainly their individual right, that obviously leaves regular users in the dust, since there's just no money in giving a damn about consumers.

FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate, who worked at the FCC until earlier this year, stirred up some geek angst recently by tying World of Warcraft to the college drop out rate. Tate was also a well-lobbied proponent of digital rights management, and often regurgitated most of the broadband industry's talking points. Given her pro-industry views on nearly every subject, it didn't take long for Tate to find a new home at a deregulatory "free market" think tank, cheerleading the industry's belief that we need metered billing for the fairness of the nation's grandmothers.

Perhaps more embarrassing is that nobody in the sector really seems to see a problem, or ever really understands how broken things have become. FCC senior legal aide to Democratic Commissioner Copps Rick Chessen this week left the FCC to go become a lobbyist for the cable industry's main lobbying group, the NCTA. In a departing love letter, Commissioner Copps praises Mr. Chessen's abilities, with a small guffaw:Oh the levity! A skilled employee who knows the inside workings of the FCC will now proceed to the cable industry, where he'll use that knowledge to screw consumers by passing laws that erode their rights and lighten their wallets! Guffaw, indeed. While Copps insists Chessen will bring a "better understanding and cooperation between the sectors," that's generally not how it works. Mr. Chessen will be told to do something (hey Rick, go tell Congress higher prices are patriotic) and he does it -- lest he find himself out of a job.

Of course the revolving door goes both ways, with Mr. Chessen possibly returning down the line to act as regulator after years of working for the cable industry's interests. This week also sees the FCC, after weeks of lauding the value of real science, bringing in Scott Wallsten as economics director of its broadband task force. Wallsten has a history with a slew of telecom think tanks, including the AT&T and Verizon funded "Progress and Freedom Foundation." Wallsten recently testified before Congress that the "U.S. does not have a broadband problem."

Yeah, that sounds like just the guy needed to fix our very real broadband problems.

Wallsten goes on to parrot nearly every telecom lobbyist talking point we've ever come across, including the meme that deregulation leads to telecom Nirvana (that's worked out really well for rural American broadband users over the last decade) and a quick plug for the then nascent, now controversial baby bell-linked Connected Nation. We'll repeat: he's one of the key players in our new broadband plan after the FCC spent the last four months promising they're taking a renewed focus on independent science, not political policy wonkiness.

While this endless closed loop of lobbyists, think tank statistic magicians and policy wonks certainly makes for one big happy family, it's a family that is completely oblivious to just how deep the chasm has become between themselves and the average consumer. It's also a family that seemingly cheers this obliviousness while endlessly rewarding conflict of interest with a giggle. The problem is none of it is funny. The country's regulatory system is perhaps irrevocably broken, and despite endless lip service, consumers are not being well represented.

As we've mentioned time and time again, there are some very fundamental flaws that need fixing in this country before we can ever truly hope to cure what ails the broadband market.

Update: Wallsten, despite our criticism, reached out to us with a very classy e-mail noting he'll soon be updating the FCC broadband blog with additional information on what he'll be doing. We've asked if he wouldn't mind an interview on the issue of broadband penetration which we can hopefully bring you down the road in the national broadband plan's development.