Michael Powell to Leave FCC

Anonymous Slashdotter writes "Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, will be stepping down from his post soon. 'Powell, who maintained a light regulatory hand as the nation's chief media watchdog but collected some of the largest indecency fines against U.S. broadcasters, planned to issue a statement Friday but was not expected to hold a formal news conference, these officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.'"

Comments

I have a sinking feeling....

[tinrobot]

That his replacement will be even worse.

Don't celebrate just yet.

Re:I have a sinking feeling....

[Johnny5000]

Well, yes, but a vote for Kerry was a vote for split government, and a vote for split government is a vote for gridlock and lack of "progress".

You say that like it's a bad thing... if "progress" is an advancement of the neo-con Republican party agenda, and lack of progress is blocking that from happening, I'd love to see some of that gridlock.

Michael Powell is the son of Colin Powell

[nganju]

I wonder if Colin Powell's exodus is not unrelated to this.

Vonage might not exist today w/o Powell.

[stratjakt]

Last year, Powell repeatedly shielded VoIP services from intrusive government regulation and taxation. The FCC voted in February that Internet-only VoIP services were not subject to FCC oversight and expanded that view in November to protect VoIP from state regulators. ...

"He let us go out and build this new thing without knowing all the issues beforehand," said Jeff Citron, chief executive of Vonage, the largest U.S. provider of Internet telephone services. "He helped the telephone industry transition from the old to the new world."

Cellphone number portability, Do Not Call list, he's pushed hard to free up more spectrum for WiFi.

But he's republican so let's focus on the stuff we don't like.

Re:Vonage might not exist today w/o Powell.

[bushidocoder]

Not to mention that he sides with Tivo and the consumers every time the content industry came calling, with the exception of the copy bit, which although he allowed to be implemented, did not fully standardize. When the NFL complained that TivoToGo violated their decades long control over their market with blackout dates, he ruled in favor of the consumer. He never interfered with cables versus satellite's ability to compete with each other fairly. He sat back and let the markets push broadband into almost every willing home with very limitted regulation. He expanded the available bandwidth for wireless carriers at a low cost, ensuring that even with the recent corporate mergers, there's still 5 major carriers for consumers to choose from.

We may not like everything he did, but I agree - lets give the man some credit for leading the only part of government to not completely screw emerging technologies.

Re:I for one...

[R2.0]

Funny, I heard it when it first happened. Powell sounded articulate and reasoned; Stern sounded like a buffoon. While what Powell was saying may still have been disagreeable, he didn't attack Stern personally, whereas that is all Stern did.

Riveting? Hardly.

Re:What does Howard Stern Say?

[Marco_polo]

Don't forget the bill that is sitting on presiden't desk. The one that will allow the FCC to fine 'individual radio personalities'. I'm all for moderate regulation of our airways, but going after the actors/DJ's is a dangerous precedent.

Re:What does Howard Stern Say?

[duffbeer703]

Hardly anyone saw it during the superbowl -- her breast was flashed for a couple of seconds.

Most children spend their first months or years sucking on their mother's breast. Its no big deal anyway.

Re:his vision

[FlimFlamboyant]

On the one hand, people complain about the FCC slapping fines on large corporations for broadcasting media that they deem "inappropriate". Then in the very same breath, they complain about the FCC supporting large corporations.

If the FCC was truly all about supporting large networks, they would allow them to appeal to the ever-increasing moral decadence of our society completely unharrassed. After all, isn't that how large, successful corporations got to where they are today? They are in the business of selling a product that the public wants. If that happens to be smut, then they will push the envelope as far as they can until the free market or the FCC says enough is enough.

Which is worse

[adewolf]

Ok so which is worse nakid breast or some guy's head being chopped in. Personally I would rather my daughter see the breast than the chopped in head. The FCC seems perfectly happy with kids watching extreme violence but get's all disgruntled over band language (so what) or a nakid body part. Makes me wonder. Alex