IP Democracy: Martin to Order McDowell Vote on AT&T-BellSouth

The latest development in the ongoing saga of the AT&T-BellSouth merger delay: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin sent a letter last Friday to Congressional leaders putting them on notice that he will ask the Commission’s General Counsel to clear fellow Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell of any conflict of interest problems so that McDowell can vote on the deal and break the current deadlock.

Without McDowell’s vote, the FCC’s approval of the AT&T-BellSouth merger is hopelessly deadlocked, split between two yea votes by the two Republican commissioners and two nay votes by the two Democratic commissioners. McDowell, however, has a past that conflicts with his ability to vote on the deal — in previous incarnations he was a lobbyist for competitive phone companies that opposed AT&T, BellSouth and other incumbent telcos on key matters.

There is precedent for Martin ordering the FCC’s General Counsel to clear McDowell of any conflict of interest liability (former FCC Chairman Bill Kennard was once released from his conflict of interest obligations in a broadcasting-related matter), but public interest groups think this move stinks.

Public Knowledge’s Gigi Sohn said in a statement that rather than pull McDowell back in as a tie-breaker, the FCC’s approval of the deal should be rejiggered to include tougher conditions advocated by Democractic commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps.

In response to Chairman Martin’s letter, members of Congress should make clear that having Commissioner McDowell participate in the AT&T-BellSouth merger at this point would deeply compromise the integrity of the Commission. It is unseemly to try to force the Commissioner to violate the ethical constraints not only of the Commission, but of the Virginia Bar as well. A better solution would be for Chairman Martin to reconsider his opposition to the pro-competitive and pro-consumer merger conditions being advocated by Commissioners Copps and Adelstein.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on December 4, 2006 7:46 AM to IP Democracy