And despite the presence of team members with key FCC paragraphs on their resumes, the nod is going to a pair of professors. Susan Crawford is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, and a former partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) until the end of 2002, a firm with a communications practice. Joining her is Ken Werbach, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He does have an FCC plank on his resume, working for the Clinton administration as FCC Counsel for New Technology Policy.
Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and Commissioners Susan Ness and Henry Rivera are on the transition team but serving elsewhere. Hundt is overseeing review of the international trade and economics agencies; Ness is checking out the Federal Trade Commission; and Rivera is looking into the National Science Foundation.
RBR/TVBR observation: This figured to be a wildcard situation anyway, and now it looks even wilder. As we read the tea leaves, it seems clear that the bias is toward legal and new technology, and is further evidence that broadband issues will dominate the agenda of the next FCC.
