Tuesday, Dec 23, 2008    Text size: 

In canceling a meeting last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission effectively tabled a vote on the proposed idea, which has been championed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

But two House Democrats wrote a letter urging the FCC to take another look at the idea. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Adolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) sent the letter to the FCC's Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps.

"We are troubled by the cumbersome obstacles that this particular auction has faced over the years," they wrote, referring to the bandwidth auction that would be involved in the new Internet alternative. Specifically, the chunk of the wireless spectrum up for grabs is 2155-2180MHz.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), next year's chairs of their House Commerce and Senate Commerce committees, opposed the pursuit of the new, porn-free Internet.

"It would be counterproductive for the FCC to consider unrelated items, especially complex and controversial items that the new Congress and new administration will have an interest in reviewing," they wrote. "We strongly urge you to concentrate the Commission's attention and resources only on matters that require action under the law."

What’s next? FCC spokesperson Rob Kenny said that the FCC could reconsider the plan at any time, though it was most likely that they’d wait until 2009.

Consumer advocates have objected to the FCC's proposed pornography filter and the wireless industry has objected to the entire free Internet plan.