President Obama has selected current Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps as acting head of the Federal Communications Commission in the wake of Kevin Martin’s resignation, the Administration announced late Thursday. The Commissioner has served with the FCC since 2001.

The selection of Copps is somewhat interesting, and his philosophy is quite different from that of Martin. He opposes media consolidation and often has come down on the opposite site of his predecessor when it comes to deregulation, so as long as Copps is the head of the FCC, expect things to be run a bit differently.

You may remember my earlier reporting indicating Julius Genachowski would head the FCC: apparently that is still rumor as it has not been announced yet, nor are any confirmation hearings scheduled.

Obama still needs to fill two more spots: there are two vacancies, one Democratic and one Republican. Typically, the majority in the agency is held by the party holding power in the White House.

 
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