Email has become the target in another investigation on government transparency. This time, it is Congress issuing an extremely broad email preservation order to the Federal Communications Commission, an independent government agency directly responsible to Congress.
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (Chairman John D. Dingell , D-Mich., ranking Republican Joe L. Barton of Texas, and other members of the panel.) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin ordering him and other FCC employees "to immediately preserve all electronic records, including work email and personal email communications relating to official work of the commission, and calendars and schedules of all employees (and paper copies and versions of those records)." (Hollywood Reporter)
The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether FCC procedures are fair, open and transparent.
The agency has drawn scrutiny over its Dec. 18 decisions to relax media-ownership rules and tighten controls over the cable industry in the face of opposition from Republicans and Democrats in Congress. In November, Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, was accused by Democrats on the panel of manipulating data meant to justify greater cable oversight. (Bloomberg News)
Subscribe by Email
