The FCC's powers

The Federal Communications Commission is a key regulator of the telecommunications industry and plays an important role in shaping US. technology policy.

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Before the start of a Senate hearing about consumer online privacy in July 2010, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), right, chats with Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The agency, created in 1934 to oversee the nation’s radio and telecommunication operations, also has broad responsibility to oversee the development of the Internet and other media.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

One of the most high-profile FCC indecency investigations was a probe of CBS's broadcast of the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, in which singer Janet Jackson's breast was exposed during a performance with Justin Timberlake. In July 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said that the FCC's rules on indecency are too vague and violate the First Amendment, undermining the government's primary tool for policing civility over the airwaves.

David Phillip / AP

Wilmington, N.C. Mayor Bill Saffo, left, and Kevin Martin, then-chairman of the FCC, flip a symbolic switch during a 2008 news event heralding the switch from analog to digital television signals. The move from analog to digital signals has allowed the FCC to open up unused portions of television airwaves, called "white spaces," to wireless broadband connections that function like WiFi networks. The FCC approved the use of white spaces in 2010 to improve the quality and range of WiFi-like connections for mobile devices.

Logan Wallace / AP

Comcast technician Tom Rafferty installs a digital Internet connection in 2003 in a house in Pennsylvania. In December 2010, the FCC made a significant move to regulate broadband access by passing its first Net neutrality rules. The rules ensure unimpeded access to any legal Web content for home Internet users.

George Widman / AP

The FCC oversees standards about radiation levels that cellphones can emit. Scientists are divided about whether radiation from cellphones can harm a user's health.

Eric Risberg / AP

The FCC and public-safety groups are at odds over control of the nationwide wireless network. In September 2012, the agency moved toward auctioning television airwaves for wireless networks that run smartphones and tablets. It approved a proposal for how the auction of airwaves will be collected and then resold to wireless carriers. The FCC aims to hold the auction in 2014.

BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS

In January 2011, the FCC blessed Comcast's $30 billion acquisition of NBC Universal with certain conditions. In its first wading into the realm of online video, the FCC imposed conditions to ensure that Comcast provides some Internet versions of NBC/Universal produced shows and movies to Web services such as YouTube, Hulu and Apple TV.

Elise Amendola / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03708924 Franziska (C) wears a helmet and carries a shield during the recreation of The Battle of the Teutoburg Museum in Bramsche, Germany, 20 May 2013. The everyday life of Romans and the Germanic people is depicted at Museum Park Kalkriese during the Romans and Germanic people days. EPA/Friso Gentsch

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Battle of Teutoburg Forest reenactment, Mars Curiosity rover drilling, massive tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

US actress Rosario Dawson smiles on May 20, 2013 as she arrives for the screening of the film 'Wara No Tate' (Shield of Straw) presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLIALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Rosario Dawson, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Bow Wow, Amy Poehler and more.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

FILE - In this undated publicity file photo, members of the Doors, from left, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, pose for a portrait. Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died at 74. Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday, May 20, 2013, at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo, File)

Ray Manzarek, founding member of the Doors, dies at 74

Manzarek co-founded the Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock-and-roll...

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Singer Taylor Swift accepts the award for 'Top Billboard 200 Album' onstage during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 19, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The 2013 Billboard Music Awards red carpet and ceremony

Stars float down the red carpet in Las Vegas to make their way into a performance-filled awards ceremony featuring artists such as Prince, Justin...

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