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'''Julius Genachowski''' (born August 19, 1962) is a business executive with experience in telecommunications and technology issues. <ref> Todd Shields and Julianna Goldman, [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aAnL2ORV_tGs&refer=us "Julius Genachowski Said to Be Obama’s Choice for FCC Chairman"], ''Blooomberg'', January 12, 2009.</ref> In March 2009, President [[Barack Obama]] nominated Genachowski to Chair the [[Federal Communications Commission]]. If confirmed, his predecessors would be Acting Chair [[Michael Copps]] and [[Bush administration]] Chair [[Kevin Martin]]. <ref>Press release, "[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-More-Key-Appointments-March-3-2009/ President Obama Announces More Key Appointments]," White House Press Office, March 3, 2009.</ref>
Genachowski "is expected to bring is a more proactive approach to ensuring that broadcasters meet local public-interest obligations," reported ''TV Week''. Other expectations of how Genachowski might change the FCC include questioning media ownership combinations more closely, doing more to support diversity among media owners, being less "confrontive to the cable industry," and conducting FCC business "in a more open manner than Mr. [[Kevin Martin|(Kevin) Martin]], who was criticized for using a small group of FCC officials to make decisions." <ref>Ira Teinowitz, "[http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/genachowski_faces_high_expecta.php Genachowski Faces High Expectations at FCC Helm]," ''TV Week'', March 4, 2009.</ref> He'll also be leading an agency with many hot-button issues pending, including a Supreme Court review of the FCC's indecency policies, several industry lawsuits, the need to reform "the government's nightmarishly out of control Universal Service Fund, come up with some way of auctioning off the 700 MHz public safety D Block, keep an eye on the [[Sirius]] XM merger requirements, comply with a court order on protecting migrating birds from cell phone towers, reach a consensus on [[product placement]], complete an investigation of the [[Pentagon military analyst program|Pentagon's media outreach program]], do something (or not) about cell phone early termination fees, hopefully tell Hollywood to shut up about Selectable Output Control, figure out whether to investigate [[Arbitron]]'s Portable People Meter system, and decide whether to tighten up its DTV patent licensing rules to protect US TV makers." <ref>Matthew Lasar, "[http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/excitement-over-genachowski-fcc-pick-will-it-last.ars Excitement over Genachowski FCC pick... will it last? Everybody's praising the White House's widely expected pick of Julius Genachowski to head the FCC. But Ars wonders how long this honeymoon will last]," Ars Technica, March 4, 2009.</ref>
==Early life and education==