Former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera On Obama Tech-Vetting Team

Related:
Obama Picks FCC Transition Team

 The Obama transition team named several more agency vetting teams Friday, but still none with the FCC specifically attached.

The teams will start parachuting in to various government agencies and departments and commissions next week to "ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in."

Joining Tom Wheeler, former National Cable & Telecommunications Association president, on the team dealing with general issues of "science, tech, space and the arts," which may or may not include vetting of the FCC, is Henry Rivera, communications attorney and former FCC commissioner. At one point he was said to be teed up to head the FCC vetting team, but sources say that will now likely not be the case.

Others on the tech, et al team, according to a list posted at change.gov are Don Beyer, Ralph Everett, Susan Crawford, Ken Werbach (though that may actually be Kevin Werbach, technology policy expert and Obama backer), Lori Garver Roderic (“Roddy”) Olvera Young, Bill Ivey, Anne Luzzatto, Clement Price, and Jim Kohlenberger.

A transition team spokesman could not say when and whether a separate listing for FCC agency reviewers would be released, and was checking at press time whether “Ken” was the correct Werbach.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.