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<div class="entry-date">How does MS take this intimacy into account?
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<div class="subheadlinestyle">Why the Senate Should Reject Tom
Wheeler</div>
<h1 class="article-title">Another Industry Crony at the FCC?</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle">by B. BLAKE LEVITT</div>
<div class="main-text">
<p>President Obama’s nomination of Tom Wheeler to head the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) is the height of cynical
cronyism and industry-pandering. He should not be confirmed.
Obama, in fact, could not have found a <i>worse </i>nominee
than Tom Wheeler to head this most significant regulatory agency
– one with long tentacles into all our lives whether we know it
or not. Wheeler is the last person who should have his hands on
the levers of the FCC, though he’s been aching to do just that
for decades.</p>
<p>Wheeler has far too many conflicts of interest and industry
biases to head the FCC. The FCC, regulates the nation’s airwaves
and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure,
including all broadcasters, cable companies, telephone-service
providers both wired and wireless, satellite communications and
the Internet. FCC is at a crucial juncture regarding decisions
on new airwave auctions, further media consolidation, net
neutrality, and most importantly the updating of the nation’s
obsolete exposure standards for radiofrequency radiation. The
stakes are high. These decisions will affect all U.S. citizens
for decades to come in ways great and small.</p>
<p>Below are 12 good reasons why the U.S. Senate* should reject
Tom Wheeler:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>1. Wheeler’s financial conflicts. </b> As the managing
director of Core Capital Partners LP in Washington, D.C., Tom
Wheeler helps manage a $350 million venture capital firm that
invests primarily in the high-growth technology sector – all
with potential business involving the FCC. Founded in 1999,
Core Capital has invested in over 45 companies and partnered
with over 100 others with a focus on wireless information
technology, communications, infrastructure, security,
cloud-based software, digital media and technology-enabled
service areas. Examples of Core Capital’s investments include
PureWave Networks, which develops outdoor base stations for
the 4G wireless networks; Twisted Pair Solutions, which makes
mobile communications software interfaces, BridgeWave
Communications, an outdoor gigabit wireless
infrastructure/interface company, among many others. (See: <a
href="http://www.core-capital.com"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.core-capital.com']);">http://www.core-capital.com</a>
for portfolio information.) Nearly all of Core Capital’s
clients rely on friendly FCC regulation, lax radiofrequency
radiation exposure standards, or more importantly no
regulation at all. In 2008, <i>FierceWireless </i>included
Tom Wheeler in their top ten all-time list of people who
helped shape the wireless industry. Wheeler is on a mission
and it goes way beyond regulating the quality of our
connectivity.</p>
<p><b>2. Wheeler’s professional conflicts/bullying. </b>Wheeler
headed two major industry trade groups: the National Cable
Television Association from 1979 to 1984, which includes the
largest US cable companies — Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter
Communications; and the Cellular Telecommunications &
Internet Association, now called CTIA – the Wireless
Association, which includes the four biggest wireless
companies — Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile
USA. CTIA, founded in 1984,<i> </i>includes not only
wireless carriers, but their suppliers, service providers, and
manufacturers of wireless data services and products. CTIA
advocates at all levels of government and claims to coordinate
the industry’s voluntary best practices and initiatives. Their
behaviors indicate otherwise, however, and Tom Wheeler set
their tone years ago. In 2010, CTIA sued the city of San
Francisco over that city’s first-in-the-nation law that
point-of-sale information regarding a cell phone’s
radiofrequency radiation level, and its specific absorption
rate (SAR) be made available prior to sale. It also required a
handout be made available saying that the World Health
Organization determined radiofrequency radiation to be a 2B
possible carcinogen. It was a simple right-to-know law
containing the same radiation exposure information buried in
company literature deep within the box, available only after
purchase. (Increasingly that information is now available only
online.) CTIA sued on First Amendment grounds. Apparently
making them tell the truth goes against their right to
obscure. The 9<sup>th</sup> Circuit Federal Court agreed with
CTIA and on May 7, 2013, the San Francisco City Board of
Supervisors revoked the law because they did not want to open
taxpayers to a potential $500,000 penalty in attorney’s fees
for CTIA. They were also humiliated into accepting a permanent
injunction against the right-to-know ordinance just to make
sure they didn’t come back with anything similar in the
future. Despite scores of letters and petitions from across
the country encouraging San Francisco to stay the course,
CTIA’s bullying worked. <a
href="http://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-surrenders-fight-over-cell-phone-warnings-124624361.html"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://news.yahoo.com']);">http://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-surrenders-fight-over-cell-phone-warnings-124624361.html</a>
And for good measure, CTIA not only sued but also moved CTIA’s
annual conference, traditionally held in San Francisco, to
Texas, thereby taking significant revenues out of the
California economy. These are all punitive tactics, honed
under Wheeler while at CTIA and continued by his
predecessors. Other states are considering similar
legislation. On May 2, 2013, Rep Andrea Boland (D) Maine
reintroduced The Children’s Wireless Protection Act. It would
require that retailers provide a flyer stating the same
information about the World Health Organization’s
classification, require that manufacturers’ manuals provide
language to avoid direct cell phone contact with the head and
body, as well as information on how to reduce excessive
exposure, if one chooses, such as limiting use by children,
keeping a phone away from reproductive organs, and operating
it with a wired headset. The bill would also require retailers
to label cell phones at point of purchase with stickers
stating the following: “This device emits radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields. Avoid direct contact.” (Full text: :
<a
href="http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_126th/billtexts/HP071101.asp"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.mainelegislature.org']);">http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_126th/billtexts/HP071101.asp</a>)
Rep. Boland says it’s time to give Maine constituents fair
warning of the serious, potentially lethal ramifications of
cell phone use, now associated with gliomas – the deadliest
form of brain cancer, among other problems. But the ruling in
San Francisco has had a chilling effect, just as intended by
CTIA. Boland’s bill was tabled until further notice on May 8<sup>th
</sup>. Pennsylvania, Oregon, New York and others are also
considering such legislation. Hopefully these other states
will have more pluck than San Francisco. CTIA’s aggressive
behaviors are well documented and were considerably ramped up
under Tom Wheeler’s long tenure. He will institute those
behaviors in favor of industry if affirmed at the FCC. Expect
an FCC ruling that makes point-of-sale information illegal at
the state level, a lot more litigation, and bullying.</p>
<p><strong>3. Wheeler’s political conflicts.</strong> Tom
Wheeler was a top fundraising bundler for President Obama,
raising<b> </b>more than $500,000 in 2012, and from $250,000
to $500,000 for the 2008 campaign. Wheeler has made at least
$172,524 in campaign donations since 2007, all to Democratic
candidates and party committees. He donated the maximum
allowed to both of Obama’s presidential campaigns, and the
maximum $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee in 2011
and 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. <i>Time
Business & Money </i>called Wheeler a “true believer,”
noting that Wheeler and his wife went door-to-door for Obama
in Iowa. <i> </i>(<a
href="http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/tom-wheeler-former-lobbyist-and-obama-fundraiser-tapped-to-lead-fcc/"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://business.time.com']);">http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/tom-wheeler-former-lobbyist-and-obama-fundraiser-tapped-to-lead-fcc/</a>).
His nomination reeks of a <i>quid pro quo.</i></p>
<p><b>4. Wheeler</b> <b>would increase radiofrequency
radiation exposures. </b> After decades of unchecked
wireless exposures, continued concern about safety, and three
law suits, the FCC is finally reviewing their obsolete
radiofrequency (RF) safety standards, instituted in 1996 — 17
years ago — but which even back then did not take any studies
past 1986 into consideration. Thousands of studies have come
out since that time, many indicating adverse effects. (See
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.bioinitiative.org">www.bioinitiative.org</a>) This FCC review affects all aspects of
modern life, from broadcast to broadband, cell phones, wifi,
smart metering — virtually all wireless products and
infrastructure. The CTIA recently released its 2012 year-end
survey. There are now more wireless subscriber connections
(326.4 million) in the U.S. than people, and more than 300,000
cell tower sites. That is a tremendous amount of RF exposure
to the population that simply did not exist as little as 15
years ago. Concerns over the safety of this area of the
electromagnetic spectrum precede the CTIA and were long known
in the science community. Wheeler, as director of CTIA,
oversaw a $25 million research debacle that ended in more –
not less – controversy, with virtually no research produced.
The project was widely considered in the press to have been a
“manufactured doubt” program, intended to contaminate the
database with negative studies, prevent clearer understanding
and therefore better regulation. Today increasing research
from all over the world indicates possible cancer risks among
many other physiological problems from mobile-phone use,
accompanying infrastructure, and myriad consumer wireless
products. In 2012, the World Health Organization’s
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified
radiofrequency radiation as a 2B possible carcinogen along
with lead, formaldehyde, mercury and DDT. Many European
countries and professional organizations now recommend the
precautionary principle regarding these ubiquitous exposures,
especially for children. Wheeler’s entire professional career
rests on the assumption that the exposures at current levels
are safe, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. The
current FCC standards are based on a high-intensity,
short-term tissue heating model that does not reflect today’s
long-term, low-level, chronic non-tissue-heating exposures
found to be every bit as biologically active. In addition to
the FCC’s narrow, ineffective focus, today’s standards do not
take cumulative exposures from myriad wireless sources
functioning at the same time, such as in the average home or
workplace. Plus the FCC categorically excludes whole swaths of
technology from review if those products meet certain exposure
thresholds. The entire model is completely inadequate to
protect the public health. Industry is pushing to make the
standards more lenient. In 2012, the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) released a report after spending a year
researching the health aspects of cell phone usage that stated
the radiation limit needed to be reevaluated. At the time of
the report, the FCC had the SAR (specific absorption rate) set
at 1.6W/kg (the amount of energy absorbed by a unit of
tissue). The FCC reevaluated the radiation limit after the GAO
report was published, and recently published its own response.
FCC states that the SAR limit will stay the same. However, the
outer part of the ear has been reclassified as an “extremity,”<b><i>
</i></b>a designation that legally allows it to absorb more
radiation under current specifications. This is going in the
wrong direction.<i> </i> In 1999, a cheery-picking Wheeler
said “responsible scientific studies hadn’t found a
connection.” He will likely maintain that stance and the
public health could be in serious jeopardy, given the
popularity of wireless products. Wheeler would have the
ability to not only relax the standards further and grant more
categorical exclusions to the very industries he has promoted,
funded, and made a fortune from, he would also control any
future recommendations for cell phone exposures, especially
among children who are known to be more susceptible to such
damage. These factors alone should disqualify Wheeler for the
chairmanship. While at the CTIA, Wheeler lobbied hard to make
sure Congress would set no limits on cell phone use of any
kind. He’s not about to stop now.</p>
<p><b>5.</b> <b>Wheeler would erode local cell tower siting
rights and endanger public health. </b>When Wheeler was at
CTIA, he was among the industry architects who wrote Section
704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that prohibited
state and municipalities from siting towers based on the
environmental effects of radiofrequency radiation – a health
and safety jurisdiction long exercised at the local level. He
asked FCC to preempt all local rights in cell tower siting;
make illegal temporary moratoriums on tower construction while
communities created effective zoning regulations; make it
illegal for communities to require that cell providers prove
they are in compliance with FCC exposure standards; make it
illegal to even mention health or environmental concerns at
public hearings – against First Amendment rights to free
speech – and he pushed back communities seeking legal redress
in federal courts. Wheeler’s appointment would be a blow to
what little power is left regarding state and local rights in
their time-honored legal zoning responsibilities to protect
public health, safety, and welfare. Wheeler would give the
telecoms the right to site infrastructure anywhere, anytime,
without local or state review. His appointment could open new
areas of litigation. Unsafe infrastructure siting potentially
endangers public health and property values and constitutes an
illegal taking against the Tenth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.</p>
<p><b>6.</b> <b>Wheeler would abandon landline networks. </b>This
is a critical time for FCC decisions that will affect wired v.
wireless networks and all information/entertainment/voice
delivery choice for consumers. Despite Congress’s desire for
more diversity in communications services, Wheeler in 2011
advocated for total deregulation and to let AT&T buy the
smaller wireless competitor T-Mobile USA Inc. Both the FCC and
the U.S. Justice Department opposed the merger and AT&T
abandoned the plan. It is well known that AT&T wants to
abandon its entire landline network in favor of an
all-wireless network – this at a time when safety issues are
on the table regarding wireless exposures. FCC granted them
permission to do that and AT&T is currently trying to
enact that plan in numerous states now, despite the fact that
1-in-5 Americans rely on landline networks for voice, DSL
Internet, and 911 emergency provisions. Landline networks,
proven time and again, are far more reliable and secure than
wireless networks. Wheeler’s appointment would accelerate, and
greatly favor the wireless industry over the harder, safer
landline system. The U.S. should be favoring fiberoptic
networks like countries throughout Europe and Asia for primary
connectivity at all levels.</p>
<p><b>7. </b> <b>Wheeler would increase media consolidation. </b>Further
media consolidation could erode press diversity. As president
of the CTIA, Wheeler in 2001 pushed to eliminate limits on how
many airwaves a company can hold in a given city. The FCC is
currently considering whether to revise the limits again.
Wheeler’s confirmation could further damage media diversity
and reduce the number of independent voices intended by
Congress.</p>
<p><b>8.</b> <b>Wheeler would decrease consumer choice. </b>Wheeler
has a decades-long track record of favoring wireless over
wired networks. He will bring that bias to the critical
balance in today’s entertainment/communications market between
cabled networks and wireless companies. He will decrease,
rather than increase, consumer choice – Congress’s clear
intent — and push for deregulation at all levels, using the
federal cudgel over state decision-makers. All wired networks
will likely suffer under his bias.</p>
<p><b>9</b>. <b>Wheeler would oversee huge spectrum auctions.</b>
If appointed, Wheeler would oversee 120 megahertz of spectrum
auctions of airwaves to be voluntarily relinquished (at a
price) by television stations after those stations went to
digital formats. These are the public’s airwaves. Originally,
that frequency spectrum was promised to local emergency first
responders. But it will now be auctioned to the major telecoms
for 4-G high-speed wireless Internet service and mobile
broadband. This will bring an increased layer of
radiofrequency radiation to the environment/public at a time
when safety concerns are paramount and the FCC is reviewing
its standards. Wheeler would oversee almost one quarter of the
airwaves that Obama set as a national goal and a huge swath of
spectrum would be in the hands of a consummate industry
insider who has fought against the public interest at every
step.</p>
<p><b>10.</b> <b>Wheeler is known for cronyism</b>. On his
blog in 2011, he called AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice
President Jim Cicconi, one of the smartest, shrewdest policy
mavens in the capital and added that merger deliberations
could create a new era of wireless policy according to
Cicconi’s ideas. Wheeler will bring this bias and years of
insider relationships to the FCC – against the public’s best
interests.</p>
<p><b>11.</b> <b>Wheeler’s appointment would further lower the
bar on the ‘revolving door.’</b> Reed Hundt, the former FCC
Chairman during the Clinton Administration, serves on
Wheeler’s Core Capital Partners board of advisers – the man
whom Wheeler once repeatedly petitioned for more lax standards
and regulations when Wheeler headed the CTIA. Now both men
stand to profit from Wheeler taking the helm at the FCC and
relaxing regulations further.</p>
<p><b>12. </b><strong>Wheeler’s conflicts perfectly match
FCC’s authority</strong><b>. </b>At a time when the FCC has
pushed for increased wireless broadband in rural areas, and
Congress has awarded tax payer dollars as incentives to large
communications companies to serve those areas, Wheeler would
be in the position not only to affect the nation’s
infrastructure and radiation exposure standards but to direct
all regulatory power to financially benefit friends and former
clients. FCC regulates broadcasters, cable companies and
telephone-service providers – all of which intersect with
Wheeler’s background.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Voters should urge the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science and Transportation to reject Tom Wheeler. If Wheeler’s
nomination gets out of committee, voters should petition their
Senators to vote against this cynical power-grab by a longtime
industry insider and find a more suitable candidate. President
Obama needs to get the message that our regulatory agencies are
off-limits to conflicted industry insiders once and for all.
Wheeler has long had his camel’s nose under the tent at the FCC
by being on an important FCC’s advisory panel. But it’s one
thing to ask industry insiders what their opinions/preferences
are. It’s another to hand the whole kittenkaboddle over to them.</p>
<p>Mignon Clyburn, senior Democrat on the FCC commission, will
serve as acting chairwoman until a permanent chair is appointed.
Thirty-seven U.S. Senators in <a
href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/SenateFCCLetter.pdf"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://online.wsj.com']);">a
letter </a>urged President Obama to nominate FCC Commissioner
Jessica Rosenworcel as chair. She would be the first woman to
head that agency. Rosenworcel has nearly two decades of
experience in telecommunications and media policy in both the
public and private sector and received wide bipartisan support
during her confirmation to the FCC last year. She carries none
of the overt conflicts or insider cronyism that Wheeler does and
unlike Wheeler, has a solid background in communications law.
She is acceptable to industry and public interest advocates
alike and would likely be confirmed. Those 37 senators should be
urged to stick to their guns and to enlist their colleagues to
support her. The first step is to reject Tom Wheeler. We can —
and should — do better than this.</p>
<p><em><strong>B. Blake Levitt</strong> is an award-winning
medical/science journalist, former New York Times contributor;
author, <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0595476074/counterpunchmaga"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.amazon.com']);">Electromagnetic
Fields, A Consumer’s Guide to the Issues and How to Protect
Ourselves</a>; and editor, <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/188482062X/counterpunchmaga"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.amazon.com']);">Cell
Towers Wireless Convenience? Or Environmental Hazard?</a>
(<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.blakelevitt.com">www.blakelevitt.com</a>)</em></p>
<p><em>*Wheeler’s nomination must first pass the U.S. Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, chaired by
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D) West Virginia, before going to the
full Senate for a vote.</em></p>
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