Kevin Werbach

Analysis: Obama Off To A Promising Start With Recent FCC Appointments

Authored by Paul Sweeting on November 17, 2008 - 8:24am.

Any lingering doubts as to where the incoming Obama administration will be coming from on telecom policy were more or less erased Friday when the president elect named Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach to lead the transition team at the Federal Communications Commission. Both Crawford and Werbach are industry experts and proponents of "broadband everywhere." Crawford, a professor of law at the University of Michigan and author of a widely read blog on communications issues, in particular has been critical of the telecom industry and has endorsed treating broadband connectivity like a regulated or municipally provided utility, similar to water, sewage and electricity service. Werbach is a professor of legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and organizer of the annual Supernova technology conference. During the Clinton administration, he served as counsel for new technology policy at the FCC.