The May 2009 edition of Info Tech & Telecom News, published by The Heartland Institute, featured comments on a recent speech by acting FCC chair Michael Copps. In remarks commemorating the 75th anniversary of the FCC, Copps suggested the agency think "more rigorously" about regulation of the Internet. According to the article, industry leaders think incoming FCC chair Julius Genachowski is likely to share the same outlook on internet regulation.

Frederick Joyce, chairman of Venable's Communications group, said Copps' speech was no surprise. Every time a new administration comes to town, the FCC starts to rethink its mission, he observed.

"This is not an odd thing to hear from any of the commissioners," Joyce said. "The larger question is whether this shift will occur every time there is a change in the White House. Copps is assuming that it will."