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Doug Sicker of the University of Colorado is taking over as FCC Chief Technologist after working hard on the plan. A while back I wrote Doug Sicker: Ethical Researcher http://bit.ly/Qq1CQ because he clearly revealed on his web site “he has taken money from IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Sun and a dozen other companies.” My call on Doug, because I know him, is the money has only a minor effect on his decisions. Because he reveals his conflicts so openly, you can make your own judgment. Doug's first official act should be to bring back the Technical Advisory Committee, because the lawyers at the top of the FCC desperately need to hear from some alpha geeks. Editorial: End FCC Technical Impoverishment http://bit.ly/cVPocU. I hear current Chief Technologist Jon Peha has a great new job but he hasn't told me what it is.

Bruce Gottlieb is leaving the FCC to be general counsel for Atlantic Monthly and related publications, a major change from all the FCC staffers who've left to become high-paid lobbyists the last few years. Rick Kaplan is taking over. As Chief of Staff for Mignon Clyburn, Rick has done solid work on issues like how the FCC actually can support minority media. Mignon, who came to the FCC as a great unknown, is proving to be forceful and thoughtful.

Jim Newby is taking over from Lisa Zaina as Chief of Staff at RUS

as they give out $billions of stimulus money. He's a veteran of the electricity side of RUS. Lisa moved over to be Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary. Zaina played a key role drafting the rules for the first round of the stimulus, which left Congress extremely disappointed, but everyone says she's an effective administrator and politician. Her appointment at RUS was very controversial because she was a lobbyist for the wireless association and before that for telcos, so it's probably better she's in a different part of the agency.