The Reluctant Planner

FCC Chairman Michael Powell on indecency, innovation, consolidation, and competition.

Nick Gillespie, Jesse Walker & Drew Clark from the December 2004 issue

(Page 9 of 9)

Reason: Do you feel that George Bush has an appreciation for the future of technology and for its role in communications and in society?

Powell: Yes, I do. But I also have a healthy respect that presidents are human beings. What keeps that man up at night, the focus of his greatest attention, is Iraq and the war on terrorism. He's not going to micromanage everything.

Reason: So you get to micromanage it?

Powell: I hope not, but you have to do what you're supposed to do.

I'm increasingly excited that I can actually talk to you about your TiVo and what that means for convergence. I can talk about your WiFi network at home. I can talk to my son about a cell phone, and he knows what I'm talking about. For the first time, I actually have neighbors who know what it means that digital transition gets spectrum back. Because they never had a reason to think about spectrum. That was the mystery world of broadcasting, and no one really paid attention to it. But now they do, because they can actually imagine that spectrum belongs to people in their own homes. What I love about WiFi is it's a way of saying you, not some institution, own the spectrum in your home.

Reason: If John Kerry were to win, what would happen to what you've tried to do here at the commission?

Powell: I think a lot of it is secure. Certainly, any chairman is powerful and can change course. We changed course from the previous administrations. That's what elections are for. But I do think we did something that is unique and lasting, which is we tried to build the policy around impenetrable technology trends. You can have a different vision if you want to, but you're not going to stop Voice over Internet Protocol. You are not going to stop the continued march of WiFi.