Powell's name will be familiar to those who have followed the battles over what is and is not permissible to show on US television.
Under his tenure, the FCC has handed out stringent fines to broadcasters, which have crossed the line of what it regards as decent. In 2004, indecency fines totalled $7.7m (£4.1m), compared with $48,000 in the year before he became chairman.
Last year's infamous exposure of Janet Jackson's right breast during the Super Bowl broadcast, seen by more than 100m viewers, led to a $550,000 fine for CBS, which the station is appealing against.
Powell said that the whole performance crossed a "heinous line" and was nothing less than "onstage copulation".
US "shock jock" Howard Stern greeted the news of Powell's departure by saying it was "a great day in broadcasting".
Stern fell foul of the new puritanical climate fostered by the FCC when Clear Channel dumped his show last spring for indecent on-air comments made during an interview with Rick Salomon, infamous for releasing a movie of himself having sex with hotel heiress Paris Hilton. In the interview, Stern asked Salomon if he had anal sex with Hilton and asked him about the size of his penis.
Since his sacking, Stern has made a much-publicised to US digital radio station Sirius.
Apart from pursuing the indecency agenda, the FCC under Powell relaxed US media ownership laws and introduced a Do Not Call list that allows telephone subscribers to stop telemarketers from calling them.
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