FCBA Asks FCC About Anti-Collusion Rules Interpretation
Attorneys and law firms can represent more than one TV licensee in the incentive auction and know their client’s bidding strategies, as long as those lawyers don’t reveal that information to anyone else, said the FCBA Mass Media Practice Committee…
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in a letter to the FCC posted Thursday in docket 12-268. The auction’s anti-collusion rules severely limit broadcast licensees' and their attorneys’ ability to share information about bidding strategies (see 1411280041). If those rules are interpreted to mean each attorney or law firm can represent only one licensee, there won’t be enough attorneys to go around, FCBA said. “BIA/Kelsey estimates that there are 630 separate owners of full-power and Class A television stations in the United States and Puerto Rico,” the letter said. “The potential consequences of a violation of the anti-collusion rule on our clients could be severe.” If the FCC believes the FCBA’s interpretation of the rules is incorrect, it should advise FCBA “promptly,” the letter said.