Communications lawyers on Washington Legal Foundation panel on F...

of Latham & Watkins. Moderator and former FCC Chmn. Richard Wiley did disagree, sharply, with Allard -- who called for abolishing 4 of 5 commission seats and actively involving Commerce Dept. and NTIA in regulation of various communications industries. What FCC needs, countered Wiley, is more delegation of authority to staff and more rapid decisions -- something that can be accomplished with present structure -- and “Chmn. Powell can get it done.” Because of Congressional respect for Powell, any agency reform “is going to come first from the FCC itself,” rather than from Hill, Wiley predicted. Panelist Charles Kennedy of Morrison & Foerster generally agreed with Allard, while David Poe of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae partly sided with Wiley. Commission doesn’t need revamping for short term, Poe said, but major overhaul may be necessary in long term. Kennedy said FCC operations were “outmoded… We are going to have to make some fundamental changes… if things don’t turn around.” Allard listed 10 questions that must be answered on FCC’s future, including whether competition was prerequisite for deregulation or was it other way around and did Commission’s current organizational structure make sense. Poe said Powell had shown “he’s not afraid to grapple” with tough issues and that there are many “ambiguities and contradictions” in 1996 Telecom Act. “Statutory reform” of FCC is needed, he said, but it will be very hard to get Congress to pass legislation on issue. On digital TV, Poe said FCC had tried to push broadcasters into new technology but “you can’t make a market if the market isn’t there.”