September 16, 2003
Senate Approves Overturn of FCC Rules
In a bid to reverse what many consider a bad initiative by the FCC, the Senate passed (55 to 40) a bill of disapproval, that would initiate a rollback of broad rule changes that gave media companies looser ownership restrictions for multiple outlets in the same market. The premise of the argument is that the new rules would have encouraged media companies to act in a heightened oligopolistic manner. Details of the FCC rule changes in question were covered in a June 2nd article. Senator Dorgan (D - N.D.) expressed his concern on the matter: “We’re telling the FCC to do it over and do it right. Reverting back to June 2 is not catastrophic as far as I’m concerned.”
Posted by Stephen VanDyke at September 16, 2003 06:07 PMMakes me kinda proud to have participated in MoveOn.orgs campaign to pressure Congress on this issue. On to new hurdles the President and Congress will throw up.
Posted by: DRRemer at September 16, 2003 06:16 PMI called my senators last let them know to vote to overturn to new FCC media hand-outs.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 16, 2003 06:26 PMNice to know that the Senate is still a bastion of reflective thought, and calm reason (insofar as-possible inside the halls of government).
Posted by: V. Edward Martin at September 17, 2003 10:24 AMThis bill is a non-starter in the House, and the President himslef has vowed to veto it. The main problem: it restores a status quo that’s been struck down by the courts, which was why the FCC had to modify the ownership rules in the first place.
It’s nothing but hot air.
Posted by: Richard Bennett at September 17, 2003 05:08 PMRichard, never underestimate the power of the people in an election year. Bush will bluster about a veto but, in the end, he will not veto such a bill with broad bipartisan support, not in an election year. He’s not very bright, but, he is not a moron either.
Posted by: David R. Remer at September 17, 2003 07:04 PMIn the unlikely event that Bush caves to the media demagogs, the courts will strike the bill down, as they’ve already ruled that its arbitrary ownership rules don’t pass First Amendment muster.
Posted by: Richard Bennett at September 18, 2003 01:38 PMRichard,
And what about rules which are based on unarbitrarily established anti-trust laws? The courts have lengthy precedents supporting anti-trust and the members of the Supreme Court have already expressed the dangers of monopolization of media. I am not so confident the courts are willing to strike down any anti-trust rules regarding media based on first amendment protections.
The whole concept of oligopolies will be coming before The Court before too long. Current FCC rules foster oligopolies of media. This is a legal issue that is far from over and done, I suspect.
Posted by: David R. Remer at September 18, 2003 03:59 PM
