The Media Institute's Media & Communications Policy Blog is reporting the names of the co-chairs of President-elect Barack Obama's Federal Communications Commission transition team: Kevin Werbach and Susan Crawford, both professors and both bloggers.
Werbach, proprietor of the Werblog, is an assistant professor of legal studies at University of Pennsylvania and founder of the Supernova Group, a consulting firm. On his blog he describes himself as a "leading expert on the business, policy, and social implications of emerging Internet and communications technologies. "The FCC has a vital role to play in the nascent Network Age," Werbach wrote in a post on his announcement. "During the campaign, Barack Obama and his advisors demonstrated an understanding of the transformative power of today’s communications technologies. I’m excited to help carry over that understanding in the Transition to his Administration."
Crawford hasn't yet posted the news on her blog, where she reported on the ICANN meeting in Cairo around Election Day. Crawford is on its board of directors. She teaches Internet law and communications policy at the University of Michigan Law School and is founder of OneWebDay, which she describes as "a global Earth Day for the Internet." Until 2002, she was a partner at the firm now known as Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
Based on the appointments, Media Institute president Patrick Maines called the announcement a good sign for fans of net neutrality.
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