IP: The FCC staff and the merger

[David Farber <DFARBER () fcc gov>]

I have gone out of my way to avoid sending IP stuff from the FCC site, but will make an exception today.

Now that the AOL/TW Merger has been acted upon, I want to praise all the dedicated hardworking people at all levels who 
did the study, positioning, writing and debate that went into the vote yesterday. 

The image of the 9-5  government employee is just wrong. These people worked often till midnight, came in early, sat in 
endless meeting to gather the record and hear all sides. The legal people who wrote the staff report and endlessly 
re-wrote it as internal negotiations were carried out were marvelous. The Commissioners staff worked hard to represent 
their bosses views  - often changing them in the process. The staff of the Chairman were overloaded and showed a 
dedication that I have seen only rarely in industry. I was especially pleased with the Commissioners attitude although 
often I did not see the strategy till latter on. 

It was extremely educational and exciting to work with them at all levels of the FCC.  Being in the middle of the 
senior staff in such a critical issue to our fields future was an experience I will never forget.

I want to thank all the people at the FCC that I worked with and most of the industrial folks who I met for a job well 
done.

I want to repeat one final time, the people I worked with are underpaid, overworked and dedicated to protecting their 
perception of the public interest. Why are there not more IPers down here helping!

Dave



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