FCC Head to Step Down

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin officially announced his resignation today, saying he would leave to join the nonpartisan think tank, The Aspen Institute.

 

Martin, a Republican who headed the committee for four years, will leave his post on January 20 when the Obama Administration replaces the current one.

 

According to a Reuters (News - Alert) report, Aspen spokesman James Spiegelman confirmed Martin will be joining the institute as a senior fellow with its Communications and Society Program.

 

The announcement comes amid rumors that that President-elect Obama will nominate Julius Genachowski, one of his key technology advisers, to be the next FCC (News - Alert) chairman.

 

Martin has received a good deal of attention as of late. In December he was weighing requests to put on hold a hearing expected to address, among other issues, a controversial proposal for free wireless Internet service that comes equipped with a built-in porn filter.

 

In a letter to the FCC boss, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) who will chair the Senate and House committees overseeing the FCC next year, asked the decision to be delayed, suggesting the agency would benefit focusing on the transition to digital-only television broadcasting schedule for Feb. 17, 2009.

 

Now there is speculation the transition may be delayed.

 

Martin said this week that it's “50-50” for whether that February 17 changeover date to digital-only TV will move. However, he did say changing the timeframe was a bad idea and would likely create confusing. He made the statements at during a public interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Saturday.