FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick said he's heard the word that Congress wants to overhaul the Communications Act, but that this won't slow down the Commission's own attempts to legally flex its muscles over broadband service providers.
After all, Schlick said, the same lawmakers earlier told FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the FCC to "use all of its existing authority" to protect consumers and lay out a national broadband plan. "We take that letter seriously," he said.
The busy federal agency is also starting its quadrennial review of media ownership rules, covering issues such as competition, localism and diversity. On yet another level of Commission hyperactivity, there's the Comcast bid to acquire 51 percent of NBC Universal, which could fall under the cross-ownership rules somewhere.
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