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The President-elect, on guaranteeing a free and open Internet.
Yay! While many Americans have ample cause to celebrate Barack Obama’s victory in yesterday’s election, it’s unlikely that anybody is happier than those of us who advocate Network Neutrality and sensible intellectual property laws, as well as–at the very least–enforcement of statutes long ignored by both dominant oligopolies and the Bush-era FCC requiring broadcast media outlets to offer a measure of local representation.
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FCC Commissioner Michael Copps talks Net Neutrality and broadcast reality at the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform.
The coming adjustment in the Federal Communications Commission‘s balance of power (from three Republican Commissioners and two Democrats to vice versa) offers us the opportunity to see our dreams come true. Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps have fought long and hard for the causes above; either would make a fine Chairman. While not without detractors, outgoing Chairman Kevin Martin has done a remarkable job of putting the public interest before partisan considerations and the demands of gluttonous fat cats. Let’s hope he doesn’t bail.
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But what about the new Commissioner? While Robert McChesney, Tim Wu, Susan Crawford, John Palfrey, and Julius Genachowski (along with a few dozen other possible candidates) all boast spectacular credentials, one individual stands head and shoulders above everybody else: Lawrence Lessig. Given his very vocal support for publicly financed elections, the Professor of Law at Stanford University, founder of the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and Creative Commons founding chair, might face a bit of a battle in Congress. But nobody on the planet is better qualified for the position. In a few days we’ll take a look at his ever-evolving curriculum vitae and why the intellectual property extremists who fear Lessig most might actually feel safer with him locked into a government position…especially one a few tables down from their gravy boats.
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Lessig defends Net Neutrality at an FCC hearing in April. Did we mention that he knows–and understands–the Internet better than every wannabe gatekeeper combined?
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Lessig at the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform, offering a potential patch for our nation’s massively costly coding errors.
