Policy

The FCC under outgoing chair Julius Genachowski Friday unanimously voted to lift  a host of phone company regs it called unnecessary and outdated. It also sought input on getting rid of even more. but telcos suggested the FCC fell short of the mark.

There were over 120 regulations the FCC said it would either modify or not enforce, the commission said, while pointing out that one it's keeping is the requirement that companies "notify consumers when services are being eliminated."

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will become acting chair of the agency, effective Monday, May 20, according to an FCC spokesperson. She will be the first woman to hold that post.

Opponents of the FCC's conditional waiver to Charter Communications for set-tops with downloadable security, which includes notably the Consumer Electronics Association, have until end of day Monday (May 20) to appeal that decision to the full commission, according to an FCC spokesperson. A spokesperson for CEA said it was "considering all options," but FCC staffers are anticipating that it will appeal the Media Bureau-level decision.

Attorney general Eric Holder said Wednesday that, as a general matter, his department supports having to get a warrant to access electronic communications from a service provider.

He did not exactly answer whether Justice thought it needed a warrant to get emails from a third party like Yahoo, but he did say that there should be certain limited circumstances when Justice would need to acquire info at the speed at which communications now move.

Senate Commerce Committee chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) has scheduled a May 22 nomination hearing for two new department chiefs, but it did not include FCC chairman nominee Tom Wheeler.