WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The Bush administration reportedly has decided not to seek relaxation of rules preventing the nation's largest media companies from expanding.
The Justice Department will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to act on a decision last year by a federal appeals court that sharply criticized the attempt to deregulate the rules and ordered reconsideration, the New York Times said Thursday.
The move was seen as a final slap at Michael Powell, the outgoing chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who sought the regulation change. Big media companies have been urging the administration become involved in the case.
Officials said one reason the administration decided not to seek a Supreme Court review was a concern it could impede efforts by the FCC to enforce indecency rules against broadcasters.
In a bitterly partisan vote in 2003, the commission voted 3-2 to approve a package of deregulatory measures drafted by Powell that rolled back decades of ownership restrictions.
