See Richard Pollock’s work on the LightSquared scandal here.
LightSquared’s CEO has released a statement blaming “special interests” for the burgeoning scandal involving that company and the Obama administration. The statement also discusses LightSquared’s efforts to gain approval, going back into the Bush years. While political connections are factoring into the story, the heart of the scandal is whether someone within the Obama administration pressured Gen. William Shelton to downplay his concerns that LightSquared’s technology would harmfully impact the military’s GPS tech. And related to that, whether LightSquared was given Shelton’s testimony in advance. Shelton says yes, he was subjected to such pressure, but as of yet has not specifically named who pressured him. LightSquared’s statement does not address that charge or address whether it received Shelton’s testimony in advance.
The “special interests” aren’t exactly hiding their identities. They’re users of GPS, including such radicals as FedEx and UPS. And the DoD isn’t exactly thrilled about this, either.
Oh, and the API, who’s concerned about getting drilling rigs in the right location. So Big Oil is in on it, too.
Let’s see, there’s Google with their Streetview (GPS required), and their drive itself robo-car, not to mention Apple and tracking your iPhone, so they’re in on it too.
Don’t forget that the civil engineering, land surveying & heavy construction (you know – shovel ready jobs) and maritime industries are heavily invested and dependent on precision GPS these days.