Rich Fiscus
4 Oct 2007 5:36
In a report that shouldn't surprise long time Afterdawn visitors, the U.S. General Accounting Office accuses FCC members of a bias toward helping Washington lobbyists. The report states that some at the agency leak details regarding what votes are coming up to industry lobbyists, who then have a chance to stage some sort of campaign to get whatever result they're looking for.
The report says "this imbalance of information is not the intended result of the Communications Act and it runs contrary to the principles of transparency and equal opportunity for participation established by law and to FCC's own rules that govern rulemaking."
David Fiske, director of media relations at the agency, said in an interview that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin "has always been very open and transparent" about what issues are coming to a vote and that the commission is "exploring ways in which we can make our processes even more open and transparent."
Despite FCC claims of neutrality, events over the last few years tell a different story. It was, after all, the the FCC that first attempted to mandate compatibility with the so-called broadcast flag. The broadcast flag, which the television industry has been fighting to get for years, would allow digital broadcasts to tell a potential recording device that it's not authorized to record them. Before being shot down by a Federal Court as outside the agency's authority, FCC regulations would have required all consumer electronics devices to not only support, but be dictated to by the flag.
As far as consumer groups go, agency members aren't nearly as forthcoming about what's going on. the study says consumer advocates "who generally represent consumer and public interest groups, told us they do not know when FCC is about to vote on a rulemaking or when it would be best to meet with FCC staff to make their arguments."
Besides the obvious ethical issues, the leaks may also represent illegal behavior. FCC rules state that the agenda items are "nonpublic information" and "shall not be disclosed, directly or indirectly, to any person outside the Commission."
Sources:
Wired
DSLReports