I'm focusing on the online implementation of three FCC "social policies" these days:  E911, CALEA, and Universal Service. 

Two of these three FCC adventures are already under attack: 

Nuvio is saying it will sue over E911 ("'No service provider is going to be able to provide a nationwide solution for nomadic VoIP users,' Nuvio chief Jason Talley said in a statement, noting wireless phone providers were given 10 years to meet their E911 obligations.")

CDT and universities are suing over CALEA.

Who will take on universal service? 

In his address to the TELECOM 05 conference yesterday, Chairman Martin blithely said [pdf] that the Commission "needs to revise the way in which it collects universal service monies."

Revise collection methods?  Why not reexamine the entire fund's operation?  Who will question what's being funded, and who will reveal where the money is actually going? Who will ask whether there are better, more modern ways to assure that people in rural areas and schools and libraries get the services they need?  Who will do the investigative reporting that is needed to shed light on this entire subject?  (This is where big media companies really come in handy.)  The Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service is at work -- who will have the resources and the stamina to watch the details?

Because it's even more about money than the other two social policies are, universal service is a fraught subject. But continuing the current plan without rethinking it for the digital age would be shortsighted.