Obama said to settle on FCC chief
The Wall Street Journal's got a source close to the Obama transition team who says that Julius Genachowski will be nominated to become the next head of the Federal Communications Commission.
(Credit:
LaunchBox Digital)
If true, the appointment would not be a bolt from the blue. A former IAC executive and founder of start-up incubator LaunchBox Digital, Genachowski had been an adviser to two FCC chairmen during the Clinton administration.
After Barack Obama's victory in the presidential race, there was speculation he might nominate Genachowski to become the chief technology officer to the White House. Either way, it did not hurt that Genachowski was a classmate of Obama's at Harvard Law School.
Assuming he gets the nod, Genachowski's first job will be to manage the congressionally mandated conversion to digital television that is slated for mid-February. It's not clear whether that schedule is going to get met. Some legislators have begun talking about up to a 180-day delay in the transition date, reacting to a statement by John Podesta, the co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, that nation is not prepared for the switch, affecting about 20 million consumers who don't already use the technology.
Charles Cooper has covered technology and business for more than 25 years. Before joining CNET News, he worked at the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie. 
-R