Skype Joins Organizations Welcoming New FCC Chairman Genachowski

Joining dozens of industry associations and communications technology professionals nationwide, a U.S.-owned company whose name is synonymous with online video chats is welcoming a friend and former classmate of President Barack Obama as the new Federal Communications Commission chairman.

 

Obama yesterday formally named Julius Genachowski (News - Alert) as head of the agency that oversees communications policy in the United States, and officials at Luxembourg-based Skype, which is owned by eBay, say they “look forward to working with Julius as the FCC establishes policy priorities.”

 

Josh Silverman, Skype’s (News - Alert) president, said that the success of the Obama campaign demonstrated that the Internet is a platform for empowering citizens and disrupting existing ways of doing business.

 

“Likewise, change is coming to the FCC and we are looking forward to working with Chairman Genachowski to put innovation policy to work for all Americans,” Silverman said. “We welcome Chairman Genachowski to his new responsibilities and to a future defined by more innovation, faster broadband, and lower phone bills.”

 

Rumors emerged nearly two months ago, days before Obama took office, that Genachowski, a classmate of the president at Harvard Law School, would be appointed to head the FCC – a position long held by Kevin Martin, who cut a controversial figure in Washington, D.C. (Martin has been called manipulating and non-collegial and has elicited calls for transparency from Congressional leaders.)

 

Genachowski, pictured below, has been around the telecommunications space for nearly 20 years, according to reports.

 

According to Matthew Lasar of online technology magazine Ars Technica, he served as law clerk to Supreme Court justices David Souter and William Brennan in the early 1990s, then served Hundt, starting in about 1994.

 

“A year later, he went out on a limb and wrote a letter to The New Republic, urging its readers to file comments on Hundt’s proposal that broadcasters ‘generate a minimum amount of children’s educational programming each week (say three hours rising to five).’ ”

 

As Lasar notes, the FCC eventually followed through on the notion, settling on three hours.

 

Genachowski reportedly also helped Hundt with a crusade against broadcasters who dropped the voluntary ban on hard liquor ads on television – a move that got the former FCC chairman into trouble.

 

Here’s what Genachowski reportedly said: “We don’t have a consensus now at the commission or on the Hill about what the commission’s next step will be. There may not be that much left to talk about.”

 

He was reportedly promoted to chief counsel in 1996, where Lasar said he helped Hundt target the Nielsen rating service, “which the FCC feared might have been undercounting minorities and children as TV viewers.”

 

By the end of 1997, he was no longer with the FCC.

 

Before he left, buried in FCC meeting minutes somewhere, Hundt reportedly said this: “At the outset, I would like to recognize my legal counsel, Julius Genachowski, who will shortly be leaving my office for the private sector. He has been a gifted and marvelous counsel – and a good friend – and I want to publicly express my great appreciation for his wisdom and hard work for me, and for the American public.”

 

Ars Technica reports that Genachowski went on to serve on the boards of JackBe.Com, Expedia (News - Alert) Inc, Hotels.com, the Motley Fool, and Ticketmaster, and as general counsel to General Atlantic, USA Networks, Interactive Corp., USA Networks, and USA Broadcasting.

 

Then, according an August 2003 article in The New York Times, Interactive formed a joint venture with Viviendi called Vivendi (News - Alert) Universal Entertainment.The entity’s chief executive officer , Barry Diller, received a 1.5 percent stake in VUE, then left it in 2002 after working with the project for less than a year.

 

The Times reports that Diller transferred some of his gains to three top Interactive staff, and that Genachowski received about $2.5 million worth of that stake.

 

Now, if appointed, Genachowski will lead a federal agency that has become more critical to the nation’s economy and quality of life as Internet communications, VoIP and other technologies have become more advanced, cheaper and more widespread.

 

Certainly, companies such as Skype – whose new version, Skype 4.0, is reviewed by TMCnet’s Jessica Kostek here – will be vying for the new FCC chairman’s ear and favor as Obama’s administration sets policy for the telecommunications space.

 

As TMCnet reported as the presidential election wound down in the fall, Skype faced harsh criticism following accusations that it may have complied with Chinese censors in filtering, recording and storing text messages for the government’s perusal. Skype denied the accusations.

 

Widely regarded in China as a trusted venue for private communications, Skype was accused of helping the communist nation essentially spy on its citizens by capturing and storing “offensive” chat messages, according to Reuters (News - Alert) reporters John Ruwitch and Emma Graham-Harrison.

 

A university professor at Hong Kong University, Rebecca MacKinnon, an Internet expert whom the two reporters interviewed, said the consequences of Skype’s alleged complicity were extensive.

 

“We may never know whether some of those people whose conversations were logged have gone to jail or have had their lives ruined in various ways as a result of this,” MacKinnon told the news service. “This is a big blow to Skype’s credibility, despite the fact that Skype executives are downplaying it as not such a big deal.”

 

Silverman responded that, in China, TOM is the majority local partner in the company’s joint venture that brings Skype functionality to Chinese citizens.

 

“The software is distributed in China by TOM and TOM, just like any other communications company in China, has established procedures to meet local laws and regulations,” Silverman said. “These regulations include the requirement to monitor and block instant messages containing certain words deemed ‘offensive’ by the Chinese authorities.”

 

Silverman added that China’s censorship is well-known, and said that Skype disclosed more than two years ago that TOM used a text filter that blocked certain words in chat messages.

 

“It was our understanding that it was not TOM’s protocol to upload and store chat messages with certain keywords, and we are now inquiring with TOM to find out why the protocol changed,” Silverman said.

 

With Genachowski, analysts, companies such as Skype stand to benefit from an advocate of so-called “net neutrality,” meaning Internet firms won’t be able to play favorites with content providers.

 

According to Frederick Joyce, chair of the Washington, D.C.-area law firm Venable LLP’s telecommunications practice, Genachowski is expected to more aggressively push for broadband service under the government’s economic stimulus package.

 

“It’s exciting to see that the White House’s oft-stated view of the importance of investing in our nation’s communications infrastructure, and bringing the benefits of broadband to as many families and businesses as possible, is reflected in the choice of this eminently qualified candidate for FCC chairman,” Joyce said. “Having toiled in the vineyards of the communications field for over two decades, I don’t mind saying that Mr. Genachowski is by any measure one of the best qualified candidates for this position that I’ve ever seen.”