Organizations Ask FCC Not To Delay Date For Collecting Ownership Information

A group of organizations -- including ownership diversity fans Common Cause, Free Press, and United Church of Christ -- have asked the Federal Communications Commission not to delay the Dec. 15 date for collecting more and more detailed ownership information from station owners. Expanding reporting requirements were part of then acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps' effort to tee up minority ownership reforms by collecting more and better data on just who owns what. In a filing with the FCC Monday, the groups were opposing a motion for a stay filed last week by Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth which told the FCC the changes it made to the form earlier this year were an "unexpected revision...inappropriately adopted." They require more information, including social security numbers from anyone with an interest, attributable or not, in a broadcast property. United Church of Christ et al. says wrong on both counts, and a few more as well.They say the law firm is not a party to the proceeding and did not comply with the rules regarding filing stay motions. As for the argument's merit about the revision being unexpected and there potentially being irreparable harm from providing all those SSNs, the groups said there wasn't any to either argument.