A Comcast executive and others on a panel Thursday sought a broad revamp of FCC procedures to limit how long the agency has to consider a wide array of issues and to bring transparency to ex parte meetings. Comcast Senior Vice President Joe Waz said the text of orders should be made public within 30 days of approval by the commissioners, and orders shouldn’t be changed after last-minute lobbying. Some other speakers on the American Bar Association panel on FCC reform also sought changes, but two panelists said the commission does a good job. An FCC spokeswoman said Comcast’s complaints stem from the commission’s review of one of the company’s deals.

The idea of an FCC bureau for broadband regulation mostly drew unfavorable response at a Thursday American Bar Association panel. The proposal was floated by moderator Randolph May, Free State Foundation president and a frequent critic of regulation. A broadband bureau seems unnecessary now that the agency oversees various communications services in the same way, said Sam Feder, a former FCC general counsel. A new bureau probably would be “more trouble than it’s worth,” judging by previous renamings and realignments of other bureaus, said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project.

The idea of an FCC bureau for broadband regulation mostly drew unfavorable response at a Thursday American Bar Association panel. The proposal was floated by moderator Randolph May, Free State Foundation president and a frequent critic of regulation. A broadband bureau seems unnecessary now that the agency oversees various communications services in the same way, said Sam Feder, a former FCC general counsel. A new bureau probably would be “more trouble than it’s worth,” judging by previous renamings and realignments of other bureaus, said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project.

The Department of Justice didn’t give sufficient weight to the competition between XM and Sirius when it said last week that it wouldn’t block their proposed merger or impose conditions (CD March 25 p1), said the NAB-supported Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio. In a pair of filings at the FCC, which is now evaluating whether transferring the XM’s licenses to Sirius is in the public interest, C3SR urged the commission “to restore competition and ameliorate consumer harms.”

The Supreme Court probably will hear oral arguments in late 2008 on whether the FCC can fine broadcasters for airing one obscenity during a show, industry lawyers said. The high court agreed to hear U.S. v. Fox during its fall term (CD March 18 p3). But that may not occur until November, said Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman. He took part in the case at the 2nd U.S. Appeals Court in New York. “The Supreme Court has already taken a lot of cases for next year,” making a late 2008 hearing likely, he said. The court’s fall term lasts until June 2009. The government’s brief in the case is due 60 days from last Monday and respondents’ briefs 30 days later. But extensions of the deadlines are frequent, and the court will likely rule in 2009, he said. A decision “will give broadcasters clarity regarding the use of profanity, even fleeting profanity, on the public airwaves at times when children are most likely to be in the audience,” FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate said in a written statement late Monday.

The Supreme Court will decide if the FCC can fine broadcasters for airing a single curse word in a program (CD June 5 p1), the high court’s first test of the commission’s so-called fleeting indecency policy. The Monday decision to grant certiorari to FCC v. Fox surprised some broadcast lawyers. They'd expected the court to shirk the case, since the lower court’s ruling didn’t invoke constitutional matters.

NTIA Acting Administrator Meredith Baker is leaving the agency overseeing the DTV converter box program to pursue other opportunities, she told our affiliated Communications Daily Thursday. “I will stay on to ensure a smooth transition” with the White House nominee, Baker said, noting she had been thinking about leaving for several months. The White House is expected to name Neil Patel, assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, to the job, several Hill and industry sources said. Patel did not return a call for comment.

NTIA Acting Administrator Meredith Baker is leaving the agency overseeing the DTV converter box program to pursue other opportunities, she told Communications Daily Thursday. “I will stay on to ensure a smooth transition” with the White House nominee, Baker said, noting she had been thinking about leaving for several months. The White House is expected to name Neil Patel, assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, to the job, several Hill and industry sources said. Patel did not return a call for comment.

The Federal Register’s publication of the FCC cross- ownership order Thursday paves the way for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to review it, said a lawyer who plans to challenge the order. It lifts a ban, in some cases, on common ownership of a newspaper and radio or TV station in large cities. Commissioners approved it 3-2 (CD Dec 19 p1). Publication means “the order is now officially ‘final’ for purposes of reconsideration and appeal,” said Andrew Schwartzman, the president of the Media Access Project. Petitions for reconsideration of the order are due in 30 days. The 3rd Circuit had remanded a media ownership order back to the FCC, spurring the just-concluded review.

The Supreme Court may decide Feb. 29 whether to hear oral argument in the FCC appeal of a lower court’s remand of an agency policy of finding a program indecent if it contains a single curse. The court may not decide that day whether to take up FCC v. Fox, said Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman. Schwartzman participated in the case before the 2nd U.S. Appeals Court in New York, which found the FCC didn’t adequately explain its so-called fleeting expletive policy before finding broadcasts indecent. At least four justices must vote to hear a case for that to occur, said Schwartzman.