[UPDATE01]Mignon Clyburn as FCC commissioner... A Disaster for the Public Interest?

The leaking [White House] has begun officially "announcing" that Mignon Clyburn (daughter of powerful South Carolina Congressman and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn) as FCC Commissioner. This has been long expected and rumors have been percolating for several months among those in the know, but this appears to be the first time that Mignon Clyburn has been confirmed in the mainstream press.

So it's a good day to talk more openly about what this means for the general public interest. Let me start by saying that I'm keeping an open mind, having never worked with Ms. Clyburn nor had any personal dealings with her. That said, behind closed doors, just about everyone I've talked with -- right across the board -- has been deeply concerned that Ms. Clyburn will be a disaster for the public interest.

The dominant feeling is that she is extremely tight with the telecom incumbents and that having her on the FCC will all but ensure a stalemate that will prevent any meaningful telecom reforms from being passed. To me, this seems strange since so many of us on the Technology, Media, & Telecom advisory committee during the campaign were looking forward to much needed and innovative reforms once the new FCC was in place.

If this is true, President Obama would have really sold the public interest down the river. Either way, even objectively this looks like a traditional "inside baseball" quid-pro-quo -- appointing the daughter of a powerful congressman to score political points just doesn't look good. And there's the issue that the cable and broadcasting industry are very excited for this nominee -- so much so that it has a lot of folks worried about how independent Ms. Clyburn will be vis-a-vis these incumbents' interests.

What I had heard is that her first choices of jobs were all involving the DoE; but having failed to secure a position at the Department of Energy, the FCC Commissionership was the "booby prize." Given how little is actually known about Ms. Clyburn's positions on key telecommunications issues and her lack of experience in this area, one cannot help but wonder why she's been chosen for such a critically important post.

With nothing less than the future of telecommunications riding on the choices this nominee would be making, it leaves me deeply concerned about the future of the FCC and it's efficacy in addressing a host of problems that have continued to worsen due to it's lax oversight and its abdication of responsibility to adequately regulate to maximize the public interest.

I'd certainly like to learn more about what her positions on the actual issues are -- it would greatly relieve my trepidation. Currently, I see the incumbents rejoicing and veteran public interest folks being worried and that's never a good sign.

I'll continue my searches for information on her actual stances on the issues (good, bad, and ugly).

[UPDATE01] I've begun collecting reactions from folks in the know -- here's what they've been saying (they're not "on the record" and thus I'm keeping them anonymous):

"...her father is the Whip and he went through hell just to get to Congress after losing a few state campaigns, she won't do anything that will rock the boat for her father nor his chances of running for Gov. of SC someday." [Given the power of AT&T and the telcos in South Carolina (many of whom are major contributors to Jim Clyburn's congressional campaigns) this would imply that she would be very unlikely to vote against their interests.

"Arrgghhh" [My personal favorite. In particular, it sums up the fear that one CLEC in South Carolina has about Ms. Clyburn and it's implications for competitors to the telco incumbents.]

I'm hopeful that over the course of the next 24 hours we'll start seeing more information on her public statements and votes on issues intersecting with telecom policy. Stay tuned.