FCC MOVES TO STEM LEAKS

By: Todd Shields Rule Would Cover Those Doing Business With Commission





Feeling buffeted by news stories about mergers still under its review, the Federal Communications Commission moved Thursday to plug leaks to the press. FCC staff members long have been barred from divulging nonpublic information, and, by a 4-1 vote, the commission extended the prohibition to people doing business with the FCC.



Sanctions could include barring lawyers from appearing before the commission. Dissenting commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said the measure would do little to address a problem that at its roots is cultural, rather than regulatory. Added Roth, "After all, leaks spring from the inside, not the outside, of this building."







Todd Shields (tshields@editorandpublisher.com) is the Washington editor for E&P.







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