One half of the US Congress voted last night to limit the
ability of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to
control mergers of communications companies. The Federal
Communications Commission Process Reform act passed with a vote
of 274-174.  This matters for the US technology community as it
takes the temperature of our elected leaders towards mergers,
and their oversight. Given that stunningly large combinations of
firms have been occurring lately, think Google-Motorola, and the
failed AT&T-T-Mobile deal, what the rules are is quite
important.  At least in the House, an FCC that acts along the
lines that it has in the past is anathema. Republicans in the
House, according to The Hill, praised the bill as bringing equal
transparency to the Commission as other parts of the government:
“Everything the President’s asking all the other agencies to do,
in this legislation, we’re saying FCC you should do as well. If
every other agency of the government can do a cost-benefit
analysis, and even do a higher, m