Senator Jim DeMint, the fast-rising star from South Carolina and member of the Senate , took a giant step for the cause of communications law reform when he dropped in S. 2113, the "Digital Age Communications Act". Senator DeMint's bill mirrors the work of PFF's DACA Project Working Groups that produced model legislative language. The Working Groups are comprised of leading experts in the communications field from think-tanks and academia.
It is likely the road to comprehensive telecommunications reform will have many bumps along the way. It likely will be a long road. When the Digital Age Communications Act is ultimately passed, it likely won't look exactly like the bill Senator DeMint has introduced today.
But it is more than just likely that the introduction of Senator DeMint's DACA bill today will be remembered as an important moment in the history of communications law and policy reform. For the introduction of the DeMint bill is an important step in reframing the policy debate so that the focus is properly on a technology-neutral competition-based model that is appropriate in an era of convergence and competition.
The debate will continue, of course, into next year, and there will be time enough to address all the issues. But, for now, Senator DeMint deserves great credit and congratulations for his vision in recognizing the value of putting his DACA, with its reform-minded and paradigm-shifting ideas, on the Senate playing field.