IFTA Meets with Lawmakers and FCC Chairman in Washington, D.C.
posted in News |IFTA Meets with Lawmakers and FCC Chairman in Washington, D.C.
On 2-3 December, IFTA president/CEO Jean Prewitt and chairman Lloyd Kaufman met with new FCC chairman Julius Genachowski to discuss media consolidation and its support for Genachowski’s efforts to secure net neutrality regulations. Over the course of two days and nearly a dozen appointments, IFTA met with FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, Meredith Atwell Baker and Mignon Clyburn and many others on Capitol Hill, including Congressman Rick Boucher (D.VA), who has been very active on Internet-related legislation. IFTA also expressed its concerns about the December 3 announcement by Comcast to take control of NBC Universal. Kaufman noted that “Congress and the FCC will be forced to focus on the consequences of this acquisition and the fact that traditional platforms, like television, are increasingly closed to independents. We might finally have a seat at the table in the deliberations in Washington about whether and on what conditions this transaction will be allowed to go forward.”