Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell says only chaos will result if his media regulations aren't passed.

His remark follows the 55-40 US Senate vote to overturn them.

"This resolution, if passed by the House and signed by the president, would only muddy the media regulatory waters," he says in an angry statement released today.

"It would bring no clarity to media regulation, only chaos. It would create perverse results, such as a return to looser radio rules permitting greater consolidation. This is a harm the FCC's new media rules were designed to avoid. It would also reinstate ownership rules that were overturned by the courts."

Moreover, as he points out, under the terms of the resolution, "the FCC would be forbidden from reissuing any substantially similar rules. In short the agency would be powerless to cure the infirmities identified by the court.

"What is most important is to have the best policies for the American people. I hope the House will take a more considered view of the public interest."

Oh and his plan did what for the current situation?

If I recall he wanted to let one network own 45% of the market share instead of 35% that the rule already states.

I do think we need changes in media ownership, but these rules cannot be made by Michael "Daddy I'll help your vested intrests" Powell.

Every dictator in history has said the same thing

Diversity is in the public interest.
Monopolizaton, of either the airwaves, or music, is bad. Those laws favoring a small number of big business controlling an entire industry is bad news for freedom.
The second law of thermodynamics says that the universe has a natural tendency to go from an ordered state to a disorganziaed state (entropy).
Viva entropy!
~code

Note to Michael, son of Colon..er..
Colin Powell...From chaos comes order..
Order leads to the Third Reich...

" A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"

Yippy-skippy!!!!

Go cry to your little tin god Ted Turner, Powell. Maybe if you lick his boots good enough he'll give you some of his table scraps. Maybe.

AH he is just acting up like a little kid that does not get their way. YOUR IDEA IS BAD POWELL AND WE WONT HAVE IT, WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT NO!

Also, the Ancient Aztecs and Egyptians were literally terrified of chaos. In order to prevent chaos, they sacrificed humans on a regular basis to stave away chaos by trying to appease the angry gods. Sacrificing our freedoms in the name of preventing chaos will work no better in the 21st century than it worked in these ancient kingdoms. Toward the end of the civilizations, they increased their level of human sacrifice, and chaos enveloped them even faster at the end.
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

Exactly true. So, what do they expect us to do, offer our hard drives on the altar?

And I thought America was mostly opposed to socialism. Not the way things are going!

To this I say two famous quotes:

"Live Free or Die!"
"Give me Liberty or give me Death!"

If they are not passed, wouldn't things be the same as they are now? And if they are passed, wouldn't there be a complete uprising from everyone opposed to this?

Poor Powell, He is just trying to warn you people. He has done nothing but foster more competition in the communications market.

yet most can't see the forest for the trees. All they have to do is utter the words "corporate puppet" and the cannibals come out to get on the bandwagon. Search your history books, and you'll find every communist uprising has started with public paranoia and hatred of companies.

Wake up, Read the senate bill for yourself. I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that it is now attached to an annual spending bill among other wonderful enhancements.

This has become a political mess, and I no longer care why. It looks like the president will veto it and it will die quickly enough.

how can it be chaos if monopolization causes chaos? Powell. you need to shut the hell up and quit acting like a 6-yr old.

The FCC needs to be powerless.

The last time I called them, I couldn't make a complaint about payola because the word was not in their database.

The airwaves belong to the public, not the government.

Every communist movement achieved success by allowing government to control speech, commerce, trade, expression and silencing the voice of independence.

We see the forest just fine, despite the Bushes that have been planted to cover it.

"Moreover, as he points out, under the terms of the resolution, "the FCC would be forbidden from reissuing any substantially similar rules. In short the agency would be powerless to cure the infirmities identified by the court."

HAHA, last I checked that is the job of the courts. To keep self ritious administrations like that one in-line......

GdZ - Useful points, of course, even in the absence of understanding that the airwaves are ours, I recall polls indicating 90%+ opposition to Powell's changes. I think what he's calling "chaos" is really democracy. God forbid THAT rear it's ugly head in these corporate states.

OdiOdin - I'm not sure what it is you're trying to promote, being against blocking these changes. Even if you were of the opinion that unrestricted capitalism and ownership of these stations were somehow a good thing, as the real owners of the airwaves we should be charging high rents, not giving them away at bargain basement prices.

I merely suggest that you learn the facts and think for yourselves instead of attacking a good man.

and for everyone that keeps dragging Bush into this Powell was appointed to the FCC by Clinton.

Most of you know nothing about the FCC. The communications act of 1996 or the even the contents of rule changes that you oppose, and it shows in your comments.

To make myself clear. This isn't about politics.

It's about reforming arcane regulations that restrict and hamper private companies to compete with large national networks and to further protect public networks like PBS from extinction.

Those rule changes are in your best intrest but you are all too caught up in other predjudices and/or paranoia to realize it.

If you want to see someone who doesn't know jack about the media, here:

http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/3079141

Dear OdiOdin:

I happen to be a grad student majoring in Communication Law and Policy. I am well aware of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (There is no such thing as the 'communications act of 1996 perhaps you were thinking of the Communications Act of 1934?) And yet, I am still opposed to increasing the ownership restriction cap to 45 percent of the national audience.

The networks claimed they needed to have the ownership cap increased because they have to compete with cable networks, which are not subject to audience caps. However, there is no such thing as bandwidth scarcity on cable networks. The governemnt does not issue cable networks broadcast licenses, and therefore doesn't regulate their reach. Broadcast networks, however, receive their licenses from the FCC. Before the Telecommunications Act of 1996, broadcasters used to have to prove that they were acting in the public interest. But even those regulations have been lifted.

Our television and radio airwaves are national resources and should be treated as such. Media conglomerates do not have inherent rights to the audience which they in turn sell to advertisers.

Thanks to Powell, cross-ownership regulations have been lifted as well. It is now possible for one company to control a town's local television, radio and newspaper.

The press is the only private enterprise specifically protected by the Bill of Rights. Our democracy is based around the free-flow of ideas. The concentration of media outlets in the hands of only a few conglomerates poses a larger threat to free-speech than the government at this point. Will news outlets owned by corporations ever report news that conflicts with the financial interests of their parent companies? History has given us the answer: No.

Republicans are nortoriously anti-PBS. Congress recently denied PBS funding to upgrade to the digital broadcasting standards that they will need to meet after the FCC-mandated conversion.