FCC Standoff Over Ma Bell’s Resurrection Continues
http://boztopia.com/?p=20AT&T, BellSouth, Ed Markey, FCC, House Telecom Subcommittee, Kevin Martin, net neutrality, Private Intelligence, Robert McDowell, Sprint Nextel, William Kennardhttp://boztopia.com/?p=20#comments
Tonight the role of Mr. Orange will be played by FCC Chair Kevin Martin.
Faced with continuing delays over his master plan to see AT&T and BellSouth united in unholy matrimony, FCC Chair Kevin Martin is indeed calling out the big guns-he’s asked recused FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell to vote.
This is bad news for anyone hoping McDowell would exercise any sort of balance in his viewpoint-as a Martin appointee, McDowell embodies the worst of both worlds: He’s a laissez-faire free marketeer when it comes to virtually every aspect of telecom policy, except for what we’re actually able to watch:
Commissioner McDowell espoused a general free-market philosophy that resonated with the industry crowd, saying that the government should get out of the way and remove barriers to entry, “trusting free people acting within free markets to make better decisions than government.” But there are times, he said, when the government should address market failure, applying narrowly tailored remedies. He suggested, without explicitly saying it, that a lack of self-regulation of content would be such a failure. “We must be careful not to abuse our freedoms he said, adding that as parents of two young children-with a third on the way-he and his wife think about how the media will “shape them” and their values.
As an even more interesting twist, former FCC Commissioner William Kennard-who is referenced as the precedent-setter that will enable Martin to push for McDowell’s vote-recently was caught in a bit of an ethical maelstrom by slamming net neutrality on the New York Times’ Op-ed page while taking money from Sprint Nextel, among others.
All of these shenanigans have got Democrats in a righteous fury, with incoming House Telecom Subcommittee chair Ed Markey-yes, Mr. “Net Neutrality” himself-all up in McDowell’s zone.
Congress doesn’t actually have the power to stop the merger, but they can certainly make life hell for Martin and the companies involved in the aftermath, which may be accounting for Democratic commissioners’ Adelstein and Copps willingness to play hardball. “Either you give us the regs we want,” they’re saying, “or it’s the Senate floor for you!”
It’s a mark of how much the political landscape has shifted in the last two months that a merger which seemed guaranteed a smooth victory is now a political hot potato of the first order.
Originally posted at Private Intelligence.
Tonight the role of Mr. Orange will be played by FCC Chair Kevin Martin.
Faced with continuing delays over his master plan to see AT&T and BellSouth united in unholy matrimony, FCC Chair Kevin Martin is indeed calling out the big guns-he’s asked recused FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell to vote.
This is bad news for anyone hoping McDowell would exercise any sort of balance in his viewpoint-as a Martin appointee, McDowell embodies the worst of both worlds: He’s a laissez-faire free marketeer when it comes to virtually every aspect of telecom policy, except for what we’re actually able to watch:
Commissioner McDowell espoused a general free-market philosophy that resonated with the industry crowd, saying that the government should get out of the way and remove barriers to entry, “trusting free people acting within free markets to make better decisions than government.” But there are times, he said, when the government should address market failure, applying narrowly tailored remedies. He suggested, without explicitly saying it, that a lack of self-regulation of content would be such a failure. “We must be careful not to abuse our freedoms he said, adding that as parents of two young children-with a third on the way-he and his wife think about how the media will “shape them” and their values.
As an even more interesting twist, former FCC Commissioner William Kennard-who is referenced as the precedent-setter that will enable Martin to push for McDowell’s vote-recently was caught in a bit of an ethical maelstrom by slamming net neutrality on the New York Times’ Op-ed page while taking money from Sprint Nextel, among others.
All of these shenanigans have got Democrats in a righteous fury, with incoming House Telecom Subcommittee chair Ed Markey-yes, Mr. “Net Neutrality” himself-all up in McDowell’s zone.
Congress doesn’t actually have the power to stop the merger, but they can certainly make life hell for Martin and the companies involved in the aftermath, which may be accounting for Democratic commissioners’ Adelstein and Copps willingness to play hardball. “Either you give us the regs we want,” they’re saying, “or it’s the Senate floor for you!”
It’s a mark of how much the political landscape has shifted in the last two months that a merger which seemed guaranteed a smooth victory is now a political hot potato of the first order.
Originally posted at Private Intelligence.