IP: Washington Diary #2

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

I promised that I would generate a set of notes relating my pilgrimage to 
the center of the Universe -- Washington DC (Washington is as bad as 
Boston/Cambridge in that belief). We have been here three months and we are 
beginning to feel like "old timers". I find myself helping tourists on the 
Metro etc.

Washington is an interesting but in some ways a strange place. The cultural 
activities are excellent -- almost up to NYC. The Kennedy Center, 3 blocks 
from our apartment, has a good set of performances and even a good 
cafeteria. We are surrounded by museums and embassies all of which offer 
exhibitions, performances etc and many if not most free. Eating out in DC 
is very good and we do a lot of that. We are three blocks from Georgetown 
and three from the Dupont Circle/19 th street crowd of places. (still 
looking for a good Chinese in downtown).  Last weekend we went to Old Town 
in Alexandria for a Greek Easter dinner (yes I know Greek Easter is this 
coming Sunday but they hold their special dinner two times -- one for each 
Easter). It was very very good -- music, dancing etc.

Strange part -- the streets are torn up as fiber is laid all over and no 
one ever repaves the mess; construction is everywhere and there are few if 
any rules on closing of lanes and sidewalks  I have yet to find a decent 
computer store in the central DC area or reachable via the Metro.

As to my professional life. I have been at the FCC for three months now, 
much of that time was spent getting a feel for the way policy is made, 
understanding the complex structure of the industry this place regulates, 
understanding the way rules are made and the way the Commissioners operate, 
educating in the Internet area , giving talks, TV programs, radio 
interviews . It is now time to engage specific efforts. They will most 
likely focus on issues relating to Broad Band Access (like openness issues 
etc); IP Telephony and wireless. More as it progresses.

I am, on the average, very impressed with the staff at the FCC. As I have 
said before, they do what they believe is best for the country recognizing 
that they are dealing with powerful industrial players who often run to the 
Hill and the courts for protection if they are pushed too hard.  Somehow I 
think getting the Congress involved in what are on the surface technical 
issues will backfire when regulation issues end up being fought with 
lobbyists.

As to the FCC. I was surprised by the small number of people who are 
technologists. In specific I was shocked to see that on the "8 th floor" 
(which is really the 10 th floor of the building) there are essentially no 
technical people on the staff of the Commissioners even though in practice 
that is where the actually discussions that end up setting a Commissioners 
vote is set (in the 70s there were 7 Commissioners and each had an 
engineering assistant (by law)
). If I had one concrete suggestion I would mandate a Personal Technical 
Advisor to each Commissioner as they have a Legal and Economic Advisor. How 
they can make informed decisions in this rapidly evolving technology 
business with out that astonishes me.

More as my understanding of this culture evolves. If you are in DC, give a 
yell and lets meet in meatspace.

Dave