The level of corruption here is just depressing. And not just for consumers — might tech companies or telcos come out behind when they're dealing with cable companies? Although sadly this is the sort of thing that happens in other industries be it defense or Wall Street.

Well, this is not much new here, is it? FCC Commissioner leaves for Comcast. DARPA program manager leaves for Lockheed Martin. Senator leaves for or sets up a lobbying firm. Federal reserve personnel leaves for Goldman Sachs (or vice versa).

It is the people they know (Network) that is valuable in all these cases... Potential for corruption? Yes. Illegal? No.

EDIT: Of course this is very unethical and am not supporting this by any means. Am just stating as a matter of fact that this nexus is very prevalent, almost legalized. In many cases, such job changes are considered a natural career progression...

Illegal, no. Unethical, hell yes! I wrote to Comcast corporate, FCC, and the DOJ. Not that it will do any good but at least the urge to punch the wall has almost gone away.

There are laws that restrict her from lobbying current FCC employees and even staffers in and around the regulatory body. However, these cross-overs are still too common, meaning the restrictions in place probably aren't strong enough.

Should be illegal.

Because I find this topic interesting, this just fell off the front page: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2538565

Edit: After approving NBC buyout, FCC Commissioner becomes Comcast lobbyist (arstechnica.com) is the title.

That's funny, I could have sworn she already did work for them...

Looking at the NBC-->Comcast transaction, was there anything approved by the FCC that might be improper? I think the FCC Commissioner leaving to work for Comcast is improper, but don't see anything about the NBC transaction that is suspicious. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/18/nbc-comcast-idUSN1...

On the bright side, at least she isn't in the FCC, biasing the decision with more corruption, right?

Or has the damage been done, and is irreversible?

Except he is a she, and she[1] is married to the son of former chief of staff, James Baker[2].

[1]http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54765.html [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker

Good find.

Guess the revolving door never stops.

Aside from the fact that... she still is in the FCC. At least for a few more days/weeks. Good thing she doesn't have a conflict of interest.

A missed revenue opportunity?

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/118348/

sigh.. another day in washington.

OT: While looking at this month's home Comcast bill, I did the math: It's gone up about 24% since the end of last year. As best as I recall, this has been in three stages, each a month or two apart. I've made absolutely no change in my service. (Internet, and basic cable -- the latter because basic cable introduces a discount to the Internet pricing that makes the final bill about the same.)

At this point, were there any effective regulation, I would expect local and state level officials, if not national, to be beating down their door. Instead, they get NBC as some sort of prize.

At the time I signed up, Comcast was my only option. (AT&T couldn't be bothered to upgrade their system to reach the extra mile to my community of several thousand. [1]) I hate AT&T with a passion -- a hatred born of long-standing, historical as well as current experience. But I may switch, simply to try to apply an iota of pressure by qualifying for introductory pricing.

(By the way, the quality and maintenance of Comcast's local cable signal has gone to hell since the digital conversion. They appear to put zero time/effort into it, and they constrain the upstream bandwidth to the point where channels become unwatchable due to low frame rates and pixelation. Additionally, channels will "freeze" and take the better part of a day before somebody bothers to "unstick" them.)

--

[1] And as a result, the best offer I could get from another DSL provider, e.g. SpeakEasy (IIRC) or some well-regarded local/regional outfits -- of the few who were willing to try -- was a $200 installation fee and no guarantee that it would work. And the joy of their trying to coordinate this with AT&T.

Fascism, the boot that keeps on stomping on your face.

No wonder there is no competition in local markets for internet access or cable.

America, the founding fathers took corporations rights away, whore lawyer Lincoln gave them back in spades, and people have been getting screwed ever since.