Following FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s announcement that he will resign next month, commentators tumbled all over themselves to praise the outgoing chairman for his “commitment to competition,” “support of free speech” and “deep understanding of innovative technologies.”
Wow, what’s next? Giving American Idol host Simon Cowell the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to public civility and graciousness?
U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, says: “Chairman Powell fought hard to promote competition and deregulation in key parts of the telecommunications arena.”
Let’s see . . . this is the guy who effectively eliminated local-loop competition by rolling back the rules mandating a level playing field for competitive providers, which led to the demise of the competitive local exchange carriers. He’s the guy who trashed the constraints keeping media mega-companies from dominating television, newspapers and radio stations, ultimately resulting in a handful of companies controlling half of the media outlets in the U.S.
Decimating the number of competitors isn’t exactly a compelling demonstration of your commitment to competition.
How about those who laud the outgoing chairman’s “support of the First Amendment,” such as the Media Institute, a not-for-profit research and advocacy group that awarded Powell its Freedom of Speech award? The Media Institute says Powell “quickly established himself as a vigorous and outspoken defender of the First Amendment.”
With defenders like Powell, the First Amendment doesn’t need enemies. Under Powell’s leadership, censorship fines increased from $48,000 to $7.7 million per year, Howard Stern fled the airwaves for satellite, and TV stations began implementing delayed broadcasting of live events so they could delete offending words or images. If that’s the First Amendment in action, I’m Marie Antoinette.
My favorite comments praise Powell’s deep understanding of complicated technologies such as VoIP. Cisco CEO John Chambers uttered a howler. “Chairman Powell has been a visionary in his leadership of the FCC as he truly understands Internet technology and its implications for the future of our country,” he said.
Right. That would be the same Powell who said that physical networks will go away because new technologies like VoIP will make them obsolete. (That’s like saying roads will disappear because Detroit is making intelligent cars).
If you think Powell really understands Internet technology, look for Paris Hilton to start lecturing on the theory of quantum gravity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Powell doesn’t deserve accolades. I’m thrilled about the upcoming public spectrum allocation.
And Stern is probably one of the best things that ever happened to satellite radio. (Speaking of ol’ Howard – of whom I’m not a fan – we in satellite radioland have figured out this really cool technology that gets rid of offensive content at the push of a button. It’s called changing the channel.)
But if you want to praise Powell’s commitment to competition, defense of the First Amendment and deep understanding of Internet technologies . . . go ahead. And make that tax check out on April 15 to the Ministry of Plenty, not the IRS.
