US FCC nominee McDowell gets nod from Senate panel

US FCC nominee McDowell gets nod from Senate panel
Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:29 PM ET


WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday endorsed telecommunications lawyer Robert McDowell's nomination to fill a Republican seat on the five-member Federal Communications Commission.

If confirmed by the full Senate, McDowell would give FCC Chairman Kevin Martin a working 3-2 Republican majority for the first time in about a year and enable him to launch a review that could lead to easing media ownership restrictions.

McDowell, 42, has been a lawyer for Comptel, a trade association that represents telephone and Internet companies that compete against bigger carriers like AT&T Inc. (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Verizon Communications. (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

His current employer, Comptel, opposed the two recent telecommunications deals that were approved by the FCC, the one that formed AT&T and the other in which Verizon bought MCI Inc.

The agency will soon have to consider AT&T's proposed $65.3 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. (BLS.N: Quote, Profile, Research). However, McDowell pledged during his confirmation hearing last week he would start the FCC job with a clean slate.

He also said he had not appeared before the FCC in several years and he would work with the FCC's general counsel on any issues from which he would have to recuse himself.


snip


http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-03-16T212937Z_01_N16271377_RTRIDST_0_CONGRESS-FCC.XML


Previous archived thread on this nomination.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2085178

And he will not recuse himself.....

Thursday, March 17th, 2005
Kevin Martin Appointed FCC Chairman, Ken Ferree Named to Leading Post at Corporation for Public Broadcasting


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Bush named conservative commissioner Kevin Martin to head the Federal Communications Commission. Separately, Ken Ferree was named as Chief Operating Officer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We speak with Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday, President Bush announced the appointment of Kevin Martin to head the Federal Communications Commission. He will replace Michael Powell as the chairman of the organization.
Powell is leaving after seven and a half years on the commission including four years as chairman. Kevin Martin was appointed to the FCC in 2001. Martin is considered an advocate of reducing government's regulation of telecommunication companies and increasing the monitoring and enforcement of so-called indecent content on the airwaves. He pleased Christian conservative groups when he dissented from an FCC decision not to fine the NBC television network for singer Bono's use of an expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Award ceremony. He has also been in favor of stiffer penalties against media companies that broadcast indecent material.

These organizations - like the Family Research Council - have been advocating for the appointment of Martin to replace Powell. Pat Trueman of the Family Research Council has said of Martin "He is someone who understands what indecency is doing to the culture. And he's certainly someone who we'd be happy to see as a chairman." Kevin Martin also has close ties to the White House. Previous to his FCC job, he served on the Bush-Cheney transition team and was general council for Bush's 2000 Presidential campaign. His wife, Cathie Martin is a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney - and works in the White House as a special assistant to the President for economic policy.


snip


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/17/1442219

confirmation hearing last week he would start the FCC job with a clean slate.

He also said he had not appeared before the FCC in several years and he would work with the FCC's general counsel on any issues from which he would have to recuse himself....'

A f*cking broken record. All nominees must be coached 2 say this!

December 07, 2004
99.9% of FCC indecency complaints filed by Parents Television Council
Media Week reports that Activists Dominate Complaints

December 06, 2004
By Todd Shields


In an appearance before Congress in February, when the controversy over Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl moment was at its height, Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell laid some startling statistics on U.S. senators.

The number of indecency complaints had soared dramatically to more than 240,000 in the previous year, Powell said. The figure was up from roughly 14,000 in 2002, and from fewer than 350 in each of the two previous years. There was, Powell said, “a dramatic rise in public concern and outrage about what is being broadcast into their homes.”

What Powell did not reveal—apparently because he was unaware—was the source of the complaints. According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek, nearly all indecency complaints in 2003—99.8 percent—were filed by the Parents Television Council, an activist group.

This year, the trend has continued, and perhaps intensified.

Through early October, 99.9 percent of indecency complaints—aside from those concerning the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show broadcast on CBS— were brought by the PTC, according to the FCC analysis dated Oct. 1. (The agency last week estimated it had received 1,068,767 complaints about broadcast indecency so far this year; the Super Bowl broadcast accounted for over 540,000, according to commissioners’ statements.)


snip


http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2004/12/999_of_fcc_inde.html