Chairman Julius Genachowski says he wants to see more cohesiveness within the Federal Communications Commission on issues relating to consumers.
So he is creating a consumer task force to advance the agency’s consumer agenda and promote collaboration around the commission.
Joel Gurin, chief of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, will head the group. Other members will include every bureau chief, the chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, the general counsel and the managing director.
The chairman stated that the commission needs to be “a vigilant watchdog for the consumer” as communications networks and technologies become more complex and essential. “While we have one bureau with ‘consumer’ in its name, consumers are vital to the work of each of our bureaus and offices. Cross-agency collaboration is critical to this effort.”
Commissioner Michael Copps said the move “brings the FCC back to where it was always supposed to be — a proactive consumer protection agency.”
The task force is supposed to help ensure that commission proceedings keep consumer interests in mind, that consumer protection and empowerment policies are applied consistently and that the public can be more engaged in FCC processes.
