Stevens Suggests Revising Spectrum Auction, FCC Sunshine Rules
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) laid out new communications-related ideas Wed. at a breakfast forum held by The Hill newspaper. He suggested changing sunshine rules for the FCC and the system for auctioning spectrum. Stevens clarified positions on indecency regulation and said he remained open to ideas for guarding children from raunchy TV. He left open how the proposed telecom mergers might affect universal service fund distribution.
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The Committee will decide after the Easter recess whether to hold hearings on the proposed SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI mergers. Asked how the mergers might affect USF distribution, Stevens pleaded unfamiliarity. However, he said he was confident USF would remain supported. “We're not worried about USF; they should be worried about USF. It’s not going away,” he said.
Reauthorization of federal agencies will be a priority, Stevens said, and reauthorization of the FCC could see changes to sunshine law rules. He said bans on private meetings among commissioners to discuss issues were counterproductive. The rules go so far as to prohibit more than 2 commissioners from being in a room, even if only to listen, he said. However, no such curb affects staffers. “It pushes too much power to the staff,” Stevens said. “It’s not a question of acting together; it’s a question of being able to listen together.”
Budget negotiations could spur changes in spectrum distribution, Stevens said. Options include leasing spectrum, paying royalty on the income from spectrum use and requiring renewal of licenses after 10 years, he said.
On indecency, Stevens again said cable and other pay TV services should create an effective self-regulatory system, but added he holds no brief for any one idea. He seemed generally to back some tiered system of delivery in which parents can order a tier they know won’t include indecent content. “We want people to know in advance what they're buying,” he said. Stevens said 75% of mothers work, hobbling supervision of what kids watch.
Stevens said indecency legislation should guard broadcasters from incidents over which they have no control. Broadcasters worry about a “3 strikes” proposal requiring the FCC to hold a license revocation hearing after 3 indecency violations. Stevens said broadcasters shouldn’t be punished for events they can’t control. Intent should be required to commit violation, he said. “We need to make sure the broadcaster isn’t a victim of a violation,” Stevens said.
On DTV transition, Stevens said he needed more input from broadcasters on how to achieve the transition. He said he is “disturbed” that retailers are selling analog TV sets at discount rates. Stevens said he personally was burned by the Betamax VCR standard and worried that analog TV owners might face the same fate after a transition. Endorsing the pace of House progress on DTV transition, Stevens noted that the House Commerce Committee kept its leadership from last session; he acknowledged he faced a learning curve on the issue. He said he was confident his committee would be able to catch up with the House.
Stevens also defended his policy of holding closed-door “listening sessions” on telecom issues. With complicated technologies like VoIP emerging, members need to be able to ask “stupid questions” without it being reported in the press, he said. Stevens said the next listening session would likely be at Microsoft headquarters near Seattle.