Professor, you didn’t mention perhaps the FCC’s most critical decisions of the past year — the much-criticized decision to scale back ownership limits by large media corporations, a decision thrown out by a federal court. Perhaps it didn’t fit your model — it was a pro-deregulation, anti-consumer move.

So I don’t think you can really say that it’s “two FCCs.” Rather, you might say that there is some debate over which issues should be given preeminence.

That’s a highly interesting, and realistic, way to look at the FCC, much like the way one views the Supreme Court. It underscores the importance of politics, in terms of the bent of the commissioners, in the process of determining priorities. On a related note, I trust you saw the gem of a piece in the NY Times, which speculates on who the next FCC head might be under a second Bush term… http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/business/17texas.html

To go back to your question, it is my firm belief that an “antitrust FCC” should be the priority, and within that choice, the first item you list… deregulating low frequency spectrum… should by far be the number one issue.