FCC chairman discusses future of the agency at communications policy seminar
February 24, 2009
Michael J. Copps, the acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, discussed the future of the agency and communications policy at a seminar Thursday marking the agency's 75-year anniversary and hosted by the Federal Communications Bar Association.
The program also featured panel discussions with FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell, former FCC chairmen and other panels addressing the "public interest" standard and the role of the public in FCC deliberations, the role of technology in FCC decision-making and hot topics and issues for resolution by the FCC in the immediate and near future.
Copps said the FCC needs to do more of its own research studies and has "come to rely too much on the data and studies of others," including companies the FCC is charged with regulating, according to prepared remarks.
"For the sake of good policy, for the sake of our own credibility, the Commission just has to do a better job of making sure our proposed rules are better grounded and that they are sustainable in the court of law, in the court of Congress and in the court of public opinion," Copps said.
Copps said the agency must engage in dialogue to ensure it carries out its mission, protects the public interest and "informs the civic dialogue that America depends upon for its democracy."
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