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Reminder that former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a very strong advocate of Net Neutrality (the strongest advocate of any Chairman, and possibly of any commissione
by wahern 4y ago
Reminder that former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a very strong advocate of Net Neutrality (the strongest advocate of any Chairman, and possibly of any commissioner), had formerly been not only a lobbyist for cable and cellular companies, but the President of the NCTA and CEO of the CTIA, the foremost lobbying organizations for those industries.
Too many former lobbyists involved in a regulatory agency may be worthy of raised eyebrows and closer scrutiny, but doesn't by itself imply much of substance. Only their actual decisions and manner of regulating are substantive.
It's odd that most engineers seem to object to non-specialist judges and juries handling legal cases turning on nuanced issues of technology, but expect regulators to have no professional ties to an industry they're regulating. The phenomenon of regulatory capture is a problem, but to those who think non-specialist judges are a problem I'm not sure if there could ever be a coherent solution.
- nhchris 4y ago> The phenomenon of regulatory capture is a problem, but to those who think non-specialist judges are a problem I'm not sure if there could ever be a coherent solution. Researchers, academics, or even ex-employees in a field are better than lobbyists. They could have picked an economics professor, or senior credit union staff, yet we are to believe the only experts they could find where lobbyists? What sort of process do you think led to such an outcome? Conflating experts with lobbyists is a mistake, as experts specialize in a field, while lobbyists specialize in influence peddling. That there exist rare examples of reformed, vegan foxes, should not mislead us into thinking they're a good choice for hen house guards.
- hulitu 4y ago> yet we are to believe the only experts they could find where lobbyists? What sort of process do you think led to such an outcome? The process is called "democracy". X finishes school and starts working for company Y. X joins politics. X is voted or named in a political position where it favours the company Y. After the political career X is hired again by the company Y or by a "think tank" sponsored by the company Y. Rinse and repeat.