Report faults FCC on complaint tracking

REPORT FAULTS FCC ON COMPLAINT TRACKING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
The Federal Communications Commission processes 95 percent of the citizen complaints it receives but does a poor job of tracking how it resolves them, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday. The GAO concludes that the FCC "needs to improve how it collects and analyzes data on complaints received, investigations conducted and enforcement actions taken to better manage its enforcement program." In response, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said "the GAO put forward valuable recommendations" and that prior to the report's release, the commission had "identified these issues and is already in the process of implementing measures to address them." Chairman Martin also said that since he became chairman, the commission has been responding to 100 percent of consumer complaints and has collected a record amount of fines, forfeitures and consent decree payments. The GAO analysis examined data encompassing 454,000 complaints between 2003 and 2006. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the FCC processed about 95 percent of the complaints it received, opened about 46,000 investigations and closed 39,000. About 9 percent of the closed investigations resulted in an enforcement action, while 83 percent resulted in no enforcement. The GAO said it could not determine why the investigations were closed without action because "FCC does not systematically collect these data." The agency did its own analysis and said the vast majority of closures were due to a lack of information or a determination that no violation had occurred. The report criticized the agency for failing to set performance goals which prevent it from "assuring Congress and other stakeholders that it is meeting its enforcement mission."
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/455068.html

* FCC Has Made Some Progress in the Management of Its Enforcement Program but Faces Limitations, and Additional Actions Are Needed. (GAO-08-125)
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-125
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08125high.pdf

* FCC response
http://www.fcc.gov/GAO_report_response.pdf

* House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI): "When more than 80 percent of complaints investigated by the FCC are closed without any meaningful enforcement action, and it isn't possible to determine why no action was taken, then it appears that the FCC has abdicated its duty to protect consumers. This GAO report clearly demonstrates why we cannot rely solely on the FCC to enforce complaints, and why it is important to have safeguards in place at both the federal and the state level, as is the case in my home state of Michigan. The Committee will exercise vigorous oversight to ensure that consumers have adequate protections and that the FCC performs its duties in an effective and timely manner."
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr224.shtml

* House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA): "Without an effective FCC enforcement program, consumers are left out in the cold. Moreover, the GAO's report makes clear that any legislation establishing national consumer protection rules for the wireless market, must have meaningful, supplementary enforcement at the state level. Unfortunately, solely relying upon FCC enforcement for consumer protection is utterly unreasonable in light of the GAO's findings. In order to fulfill its mandate to protect consumers, ensure public safety and encourage competition, the FCC must be an effective enforcer of our telecommunications law. If it is not doing the job, reform existing procedures and bolster the resources at the commission to protect consumer welfare and ensure fair competition."
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=3286&Itemi...

* GAO’s Figures on FCC Indecency Complaints Questioned
According to a new Government Accountability Office report on the Federal Communications Commission's complaint-enforcement process, the FCC received 16,076 indecency complaints for the four years between 2003 and 2006. That would include the whole Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime reveal period, when, we have been told by the FCC itself, more than 1.4 million complaints were filed against that broadcast alone. Apparently, there is a difference between the number the FCC reports for complaints and the number it uses for enforcement purposes given the high volume of duplicate complaints it would otherwise have to enter into its database. The GAO report, which criticized the FCC's complaint-enforcement process, said it culled the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs database to come up with that and other complaint figures. The FCC did not specifically address the issue of that complaint figure, but it did say that the GAO missed some data in the database that called its numbers into question. The GAO countered that it stood by its numbers. Mark Goldstein, author of the GAO report, agreed that the FCC reports the figure differently "for enforcement purposes," conceding that the agency "takes out the high-volume 'campaign' complaints where they get 10,000 of one thing because, obviously, they are not going to enforce the same thing 10,000 times."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6540669.html

* What Did the FCC Do About That?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR200803...
(requires registration)
* FCC's complaint handling criticized
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-fcc14mar14,1,3271320....
* Most FCC investigations go nowhere: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1435603320080314