Shades of Dick Cheney's energy committee? Does this sound as
outrageous to you as
it does to me?
Dunbar, John. 2006. "FCC Briefing for Investors, Not the Public."
Associated Press
(30 November).
http://www.sunjournal.com/story/187702-3/Business/
FCC_shuts_public_out_of_talks/#
"With federal regulators deadlocked on what may prove to be the
largest
telecommunications merger in history, news about progress on the
deal has become
scarce and highly coveted. So the small group of clients of Banc
of America
Securities LLC were privileged Wednesday to get an exclusive
briefing from
top-ranking staff of the Federal Communications Commission at a
hotel a block away
from agency headquarters. The meeting was described as "timely" in
a brief item in
Communications Daily, the telecommunications industry newsletter,
with "topics
including the AT&T/BellSouth merger and net neutrality pending at
the Commission"."
"The meeting, however, was not open to the public or the media it
was for Banc of
America "clients only." When a reporter from The Associated Press
walked into the
meeting room during a lunch break, he was escorted out by Banc of
America
Securities' managing director, David W. Barden."
"The list of speakers scheduled to appear included the acting
bureau chief of the
Wireless Bureau, Catherine Seidel; the chief of the Wireline
Bureau, Thomas Navin;
and the chief of the Media Bureau, Donna Gregg."
"The commission is currently deadlocked on the proposed buyout of
BellSouth Corp. by
AT&T Inc. The FCC is also considering a major rewrite of rules
regarding media
ownership."
"Industry executives regularly meet with FCC commissioners and
staff at the agency's
headquarters to lobby for their companies, and those meetings are
not public.
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com