The FCC's September Agenda: A Genachowski Relaunch?

[Commentary] The September 2010 Federal Communications Commission meeting agenda restore some faith in FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The proposed orders on the agenda combined with the FCC quietly telling M2Z to give up hope of getting any spectrum for its proposed free-with-a-pay-tier broadband service, show a new willingness for Chairman Genachowski to do something he hasn't done yet but desperately needed to do: say "no" to people who will squawk ­ loudly. At the same time, this isn't some Hollywood-esque reversal where suddenly everything is radically different and Genachowski comes out of his corner like Rocky. Chairman Genachowski has chosen his issues and opponents for this first round with care, while deferring the much tougher action on network neutrality until at least after the election. But while I may find this frustrating (and, I think, the wrong thing to do both as a matter of substance and a matter of politics), there is a huge difference between "I think you're wrong on this issue" and "you are totally mishandling the job of being an FCC Chairman."