FCC commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit V. Pai will be featured in the session ”Straight Talk From the Top – America’s Communication Regulators“ on Tuesday, April 9 at 10:30 a.m. during the 2013 NAB Show in Las Vegas.
During the session, Chris Ornelas, the NAB’s chief operating officer, will lead a discussion with the commissioners on regulatory issues facing broadcasters.
Outgoing FCC chairman Julius Genachowski will answer questions on the FCC on Wednesday, April 10 at 9 a.m. from Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Corp.’s local media group.
Rosenworcel joined the Commission in May 2012, bringing a decade and a half of public and private sector communications law experience to her position. Prior to joining the agency, Rosenworcel served as Senior Communications Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, first under the leadership of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and later Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV.
In this position, she was responsible for legislation, hearings and policy development involving a wide range of communications issues, including spectrum auctions, public safety, broadband deployment, satellite television, local radio and the digital television transition.
Before joining the staff of the Committee, Rosenworcel served as Legal Advisor to former FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps.
Pai joined the FCC as Commissioner in May 2012 and is focusing on creating a regulatory environment in which competition and innovation can flourish for the benefit of American consumers.
Between 2007 and 2011, Pai held several positions in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel, including Deputy General Counsel. Prior to joining the FCC, he was a partner in the Communications Practice at Jenner & Block LLP and Associate General Counsel at Verizon Communications Inc.
Pai began his career in Washington in the Department of Justice, first as an Honors Program trial attorney on the Telecommunications Task Force in the Antitrust Division and later as Senior Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy. He also worked in multiple capacities for the Senate Judiciary Committee, including as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights.
Other government officials will address public policy issues related to media, entertainment and technology at NAB. U.S. Representative Greg Walden, chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, will discuss his career in broadcasting and legislative issues affecting the industry as one of the speakers at the NAB Show opening session on Monday, April 8.
Walden has represented Oregon’s Second Congressional District since 1998. He also spent more than two decades as a radio station owner and is a licensed amateur radio operator (W7EQI). He uses his small business and technology experience as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Sessions also featuring government officials and/or focusing on telecommunications policy include:
-- Is “13” A Broadcaster’s Lucky Number? The Government’s Perspective, Monday, April 8, 10:30 a.m. This panel will feature John Branscome, Senate Commerce Committee Communications Counsel, and Neil Fried, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chief Counsel, among others.
-- Incentive Auctions of TV Spectrum – How and When They Will Impact Your Business, Monday, April 8, 2:30 p.m.
-- EAS, Superstorm Sandy and Accessible Emergency Warnings – A Discussion of Broadcasters’ Role as “First Informers,” Wednesday, April 10, 10:30 a.m.
-- Keep Calm & Carry On: Viewability, Retransmission Consent & Other Signal Carriage Issues, Wednesday, April 10, 10:30 a.m.
“NAB Show is a great opportunity to hear directly from government officials, regulators and policymakers, and to get up to speed on important public policy issues facing the industry today,” said Dennis Wharton, NAB executive vice president of Communications. “You cannot underestimate the implications of legislative and regulatory initiatives in Washington.”
