Chris Sacca's $4.6 billion hot-air initiative
Oh, the stories we could tell you about Chris Sacca, Google's puffed-up "head of special initiatives." But we think the facts speak for themselves here. Sacca is promising $4.6 billion of his employer's money on wireless spectrum if — and only if — the FCC agrees to Google's four conditions of "openness." The conditions Google wants to impose are arguably consumer-friendly — for example, wireless subscribers would be able to use their cell phones on any network they like, not just the one run by the company that sold the phone to them. That's a frequent complaint of Apple iPhone buyers who now find themselves locked in to AT&T's network. But it's unlikely the telecom industry, with its vastly more experienced lobbyists, will let such ideas fly. Which leaves Google off the hook — and Sacca, once again, in a position to hold meetings, make big speeches, and never actually have to get something done. His favorite position, or so we hear.