FCC Commissioner Michael Copps told the University of Southern California Media Consolidation Forum that neither he nor the American people had been given a look at the media ownership program that will be voted on June 2.
"We don't have the details, or even the broad configuration, of what the new system will be," said Copps.
He characterized spectrum as "the people's property." Although broadcasting is a business, he said, it has "large public purposes."
Copps called for a brief period for public comment before new rules are implemented, citing the extensive consolidation of radio that followed the 1996 Telecommunication Act. "Before the genie is let out of the bottle, we'd better understand the consequences, because there's no putting the genie back after we vote."
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