Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization announced on Thursday that Commissioner Robert M. McDowell will serve as a Visiting Fellow at the organization once he leaves the Federal Communications Commission later this week, the Sacramento Bee reports.
McDowell, who has been a member of the Federal Communications Commission since 2006, will work in the Center for the Economics of the Internet at the Hudson Institute, where he will be directed by Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
Hudson Institute is delighted at the addition, indicates its president and CEO, Kenneth R. Weinstein, stating: “My colleagues and I are excited to add Commissioner McDowell's deep knowledge and insight of telecommunications policy to our team. A healthy, innovative Internet and wireless industry is vital to America's future prosperity."
During his years at the Federal Communications Commission, McDowell worked to forge bipartisan consensus in adopting communication policies to promote economic expansion, investment, innovation, competition, and consumer choice.
Before joining the Federal Communications Commission, McDowell was senior vice president for the Competitive Telecommunications Association and served as the executive vice president and general counsel of America's Carriers Telecommunications Association.
McDowell has been a prominent advocate of a free Internet that is safe from government intrusions. He argues that Internet governance works best through the non-governmental “Multistakeholder Model,” a governance structure which looks to bring stakeholders together to participate in the dialogue, decision making, and implementation of solutions to problems and goals of interest.
McDowell strongly opposes attempts by other nations, such as China and Russia, to give the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) jurisdiction over many Internet governance matters.
It was widely believed that McDowell would be a front runner for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission if Mitt Romney would won the 2012 presidential election.
He holds degrees from both Duke University and the College of William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law.