Yesterday, PFF hosted keynote speaker Sen. Jim DeMint at our DACA Luncheon, "Regulatory Reform Options for Today's Digital Age." I was curious to hear what now-in-the-minority Sen. DeMint had to say on the prospect of telecom legislation in the next Congress and he did not disappoint.
He explained that, while he was doubtful free-market based telecom reform would not be taken up this session, it was important to keep these ideas in front of Congress and regulators. He also stated that network neutrality legislation would probably not pass, even with the shift in Congress. This isn't really surprising considering Stevens seemed pretty close to getting enough votes to pass his telecom legislation that contained the weak net neutrality language.
Also at the event, we released the draft report from the DACA Working Group on Institutional Reform (a summary of the report's recommendations, in the form of my press release, can be found here). In a nutshell, the report recommends a "split agency" model where the FCC would handle ex post adjudication and rulemaking would be left to a politically accountable administrator in the executive branch. This is the final draft report to be released from the project.
A transcript of the event, featuring a variety of opinions on the split agency model, should be available soon.