FCC Commmissioner Michael Copps told Yearly Kossacks this afternoon (at a session organized by our friends at Free Press) that he wants the FCC to review the sale of the Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch’s NewsCorp has several relicensing applications currently in front of the FCC, so Copps figures it’s a good time to take a look at what legal authority the agency has to weigh in on the deal, and do their duty to protect the public interest.
Most of Copps’ talk had to do with how corporate influence over U.S. telecom policy has put this country way behind others in broadband penetration (not to mention speed). He mentioned that a recent report by the International Telegraphic Union (the U.N. agency that deals with telecom and communications matters) puts the U.S. behind Estonia and tied with Slovenia in broadband penetration.
— Steve Katz
