The FCC got lots of credit last week from President Barack...
The FCC got lots of credit last week from President Barack Obama for putting an end to 190 regulations during his administration (CD Jan 19 p11). With regulation expected to be a big issue in the 2012 presidential race, a…
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review of the record shows that dropping many of the regulations was little more than a clean up operation. The regulations the FCC cut are listed in a November document prepared by the FCC, the Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules. Among those listed are the Broadcast Flag rules, which were overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Eight of the regulations implemented the Public Utility Holding Company Act PUHCA of 1935, which had already been replaced by a new set of regulations when a new version of PUHCA was approved in 2005. Another 13 involved a mechanism for TV stations to allege that a satellite operator retransmitted their signals in violation of Section 325(b)(1) of the Communications Act. But TV stations were only allowed to file complaints through Dec. 31, 2001, and none are pending from that time period. Another regulation cited was a rule requiring backup power for wireless facilities -- a mandate scuttled by the FCC under former Chairman Kevin Martin after the Office of Management and Budget found the requirements were overly burdensome.