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, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), right, chats with Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC. The agency, created in 1934 to oversee telecommunications networks, now has broad responsibility to oversee the development of the Internet and 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 in the city. A few years ago, the FCC voted to open up unused portions of television airwaves called "white spaces" to deliver wireless broadband connections that function like Wi-Fi networks on steroids. High-tech firms and engineers are dreaming that the FCC's move to release "white spaces" later this month will unleash another boom of mobile innovation.

Logan Wallace / AP

Comcast technician Tom Rafferty installs a home digital Internet connection in 2003 in Pennsylvania. In December 2010, the FCC made 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

Anne Burkett, left, and Mary Brunson sign on to the Internet in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 2002. The FCC and public safety groups are at odds over control of the nationwide wireless network. The FCC plans to auction some airwaves to a commercial wireless carrier, but the Public Safety Alliance, which includes police and firefighters, wants to add those airwaves to spectrum its members already control.

Chuck Burton / AP

In January, the FCC blessed Comcast's $30 billion acquisition of NBC Universal. This was the first time the government waded into the realm of online video, imposing conditions to ensure that Comcast provides some Internet versions of NBC shows and movies to Web services such as YouTube, Hulu and Apple TV.

Elise Amendola / AP

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