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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which represents groups that have been critical of the Federal Communications Commission's media ownership proposal, has told the FCC that its proposed 30-day extension of the comment period on its associated 323 state of ownership survey is not sufficient. They also don't want the FCC to vote the ownership item in early January after the comment period closes.

In a letter to the FCC commissioners, the group said that its more than 200 member organizations had concluded that extra period -- until Jan. 4 on a report released Nov. 14 – does not permit a full opportunity to understand, analyze and offer comment on the ownership data, especially since the data was only released two weeks ago. They add that the brief window could leave the FCC wide open for a court challenge because it is "self-evidently insufficient."

[Commentary] Until now, this hasn't been the best year for media mogul Rupert Murdoch. But Murdoch's luck may be changing.

Despite Fox News' moonlighting as the propaganda ministry of the Republican Party, President Obama's team may be making it possible for Sir Rupert to increase his power, perversely rewarding the man who did his best to make sure Barack Obama didn't have a second term. The Federal Communications Commission could be preparing him one big Christmas present, the kind of gift that keeps on giving -- unless we all get together and do something about it. All indications are that Murdoch has his eye on two of the last remaining big newspapers in America -- the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, each owned by the now bankrupt Tribune Company. He could add one or both to his impressive portfolio, but even though the media mogul is splitting News Corp into two separately traded companies -- one for its print entities, the other for TV and film -- he would still come under current rules restricting media companies from owning newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same town. However, the FCC may be planning to suspend those rules, paving the way for Murdoch's takeover of either of the two papers.

The Justice Department has begun meeting with companies that long have accused Google of illegally skewing its search results and are losing faith that the Federal Trade Commission will act forcefully on their complaints, said people familiar with the matter.

Senior officials from the Justice Department, which shares responsibilities with the FTC for policing allegations of monopolistic behavior, have met with at least two companies in recent weeks, said these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. This has come amid reports that the FTC may resolve its nearly 2-year-old investigation of Google without dealing directly with complaints that the company uses its power over the search market to gain an edge over rivals. Those familiar with the meetings with Justice officials say they were of a preliminary nature and it was not clear if they would lead to any action. Justice considered launching an antitrust investigation before the FTC claimed the case.

Companies are offering up social media and “web footprint” rankings on everything from celebrities to Supreme Court Justices. Some recent examples make one wonder if there’s a point to all this.