What the New FCC Chairman Must Do

[Commentary] If Julius Genachowski is the next Federal Communications Commission Chairman, here's a technology and broadband task list: 1) An Internet user bill of rights, with a focus on citizen privacy; 2) A focus on one key metric for all FCC decisions: a relentless obsession that helps the US return to the global forefront of Internet and mobile technology; 3) An emphasis on future technologies (mostly wireless) that boost marketplace competition. 4) Special incentives to attract new players (and not older companies) that bring broadband to the masses; 5) Incentives or tax breaks for incumbents to reach specific deployment goals before the end of 2010. Incentives will only be granted after those goals are met and broadband speeds of upwards of 20 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up for less than $50 a month without bandwidth restrictions are available. 6) Better and more connectivity to office buildings, especially from newer players; 7) An IP- and broadband-centric, rather than voice-centric, approach to reforming the Universal Service Fund; 8) Policies that bring quality of service into the wireless agenda, and penalize wireless companies which have high numbers of dropped call complaints; and 9) An understanding that web monopolist Google, and other web companies, are not the consumer's friend, so their agenda shouldn't automatically be trusted.