FCC Commissioner's Ethics Stand Makes Things Tougher For AT&T
from the conflicting-interests dept
We pointed out yesterday that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin would only be able to deliver telcos half of their Christmas present this week, since the deadlock on the AT&T-BellSouth merger remains unbroken. There are five FCC commissioners: three Republicans, including Martin, and two Democrats. One of the Republicans, Robert McDowell, has thus far refused to vote on the issue because of his past work for a group that lobbied on behalf of small telephone companies -- living up to a pledge to recuse himself from votes where there's a conflict of interest. A few weeks ago, the FCC's general counsel, cleared McDowell to vote, saying it wouldn't be unethical. But that rather wishy-washy memo wasn't good enough for McDowell, who now says he still won't vote on the merger. With refreshing candor, he said of the general counsel's ruling: "While I expected the legal equivalent of body armor, I was handed Swiss cheese," explaining in a statement that even though he'd been cleared to vote by the FCC lawyer, he still had other ethical questions and responsibilities the counsel apparently failed to consider. There are a few interesting angles here, beyond the obvious one of an apparently ethical politician. It appears that FCC Chairman Martin was pushing for McDowell to vote with the expectation that he'd follow party lines and approve the merger with minimal conditions -- but would that have really been the case? The conflict of interest was because McDowell lobbied for small telcos, and the group he used to head is opposed to the AT&T-BellSouth merger. In addition, in his confirmation hearings, he made the right noises about being an advocate of consumers and competition (though, of course, if he was nominated with Martin's blessing, you have to wonder about his true colors). It seems like the easiest path here, were McDowell in favor of the merger, to say ethical questions be damned, and go ahead and vote to approve with his fellow Republicans. However, by refusing to get involved, it appears that he's shifted the balance of power back towards the Democratic commissioners and put more pressure on the companies to make deeper concessions. The deal will still eventually get approved, the question is just over what conditions will be attached, and how long it will take -- which could increase speculation that AT&T might give up on the deal.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
At&t merger
I have my own personal issues with AT&T, and would rather see them put out of business.
so, the more stress on it, the better
i just hope sumbody will make up there minds, so i can make up my mind to keep my providor or not, because i don't want the words AT&T anywere on my bill.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Interesting, but logic dictates McDowell would vote no. Since he was opposed to AT&T prior to joining the FCC, a vote yes would obviously shown that even though he formerly a rival to AT&T, he was voting for good. Since he won't vote, you have to assume his vote would have been no, thus calling his objectivity into question.
Sometimes you just can't get people to vote the party line. Thats really a great thing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I Am Confused
Now it seems that the telco industry (or at least, the land-line portion of it) has been allowed to merge and re-merge until we are virtually back to the old days of a single provider that holds a monopoly. Only this time, less subject to governmental regulation. And this time it is poised to happen just as they're also threatening to limit access to content on the internet.
I remain unconvinced that the FCC, who's leadership is appointed by the current administration, is at all concerned with what's best for the consumer. It seems like ALL these agencies, FEC, SEC, FCC, etc., are more concerned with kowtowing to corporate interests. Given the sheer incompetence of this administration in dealing with national and international matters, and the level of corruption and/or incompetence within the ranks of their appointees, I am also not convinced that the current FCC is able to properly sort through issues of just how different technologies compete and don't compete with each other.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nicely played bobby! most politicians should take note.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I like it...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]