Former FCC Chairman Michael Copps joins the list...
Former FCC Chairman Michael Copps joins the list of former FCC chairmen set to testify before Congress this week, a Common Cause spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Copps is special adviser for Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. A committee aide…
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to the House Communications Subcommittee also confirmed Copps will testify Wednesday at the 10 a.m. hearing in 2123 Rayburn on updating the Communications Act. The three witnesses revealed last week are former FCC chairmen Dick Wiley, Michael Powell and Reed Hundt. Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld had initially worried when hearing the witness list might consist only of Wiley, Hundt and Powell as well as, according to industry officials, Julius Genachowski. Feld suggested to us that other chairmen such as Copps would be important for balance (CD Jan 10 p10). The GOP memo for the hearing focused on the biographies of the witnesses. They “will provide unique insight into the workings of the expert agency and the challenges of implementing the Act as amended at very different times in the agency’s past,” the memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1djPbQy). “The perspectives of chairmen who served during a range of time periods and technological developments can inform potential legislation and address pitfalls that have been encountered in the past. It is vital that any changes to the law account for the impact on consumers and industry alike, and one starting point will be a conversation with those who were directly responsible for implementing the provisions of the law as written.”