Julius Genachowski, while sounding like the type of guy who would still occasionally misspells his name, is about to become a unpronounceable household name.
But only in the households of communications majors. Rumored to be the nominee as the head of the FCC, Genachowski is young, intelligent and understands that there is media out there besides network television. While this typically would disqualify him from working at the FCC, this Obama guy seems to be going against the grain.
You may have heard about Genachowski via his position as Obama’s top technology adviser during the campaign, through which he advocated open Internet and net neutrality.
Enough has been written about the importance of net neutrality (just look it up on Digg to learn more than you’d ever want to), what’s fantastic about this potential nomination is the competency it projects.
Let’s keep this simple: most of the high-ranking folks in Washington don’t understand the Internet. Save for the occasional Congressional tweet, the ancient white guys sitting in power often look at a computer and wonder why “The Price is Right” isn’t on.
With Genachowski at the helm of the FCC, perhaps the commission can change from a board of incompetent censorship into an organization focused upon endorsing the freedom of expression across all media.
Sure, he can ensure the Internet remains a lovely public forum, but how can we trust someone who cuts themselves while shaving?
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