Boucher joins AT&T-backed advocacy group

Former-Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA) has been tapped as the honorary co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA), an industry-backed advocacy group. The IIA is a coalition that advocates for positions supported by its members, which include AT&T and the Americans for Tax Reform. The group supports the AT&T merger and lobbied hard against strict "Title II" regulation of broadband companies last year. Bruce Mehlman, the co-chairman of IIA, said Boucher will play a strategic role in shaping IIA's stances but suggested that the gig won't mean Boucher has to rubber-stamp all of IIA's pro-industry views.