The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., affirmed the FCC’s June 2002 decision to allow increases in the cap on ILEC subscriber line charges (SLCs) to take effect as scheduled in the Commission’s CALLS order. Acting on the National Assn. of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) v. FCC case (02- 1261) Tues., the D.C. Circuit denied NASUCA’s petition for review and held “the Commission acted reasonably and in conformity with the 1996 Act.”
Verizon Gen. Counsel William Barr, a former U.S. attorney general, warned in a letter to the FCC late Mon. that commissioners could open themselves to criminal prosecution if they sided with Nextel on its 800 MHz rebanding plan. The letter also argued that the FCC has no legal authority to expend federal dollars to support the relocation costs of public safety agencies or companies like Nextel.
The 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, ruled Covad can pursue certain antitrust and tort claims against BellSouth despite the Supreme Court’s Verizon v. Trinko ruling(CD Jan 14 p1). Covad Gen. Counsel-Senior Vp James said his company intended to “vigorously pursue its claims.” He said “many, including BellSouth, believed that the Supreme Court’s Trinko decision made antitrust suits challenging monopoly abuses by incumbent companies impossible.” He said he was “pleased” the 11th Circuit reaffirmed that “phone companies will still be held accountable for such abuses under the antitrust laws.” Covad’s antitrust claims go back to 2000, when the CLEC alleged BellSouth used its monopoly power to try to thwart competition in the Internet access market. The claims were dismissed by the U.S. Dist. Court, Atlanta, on the grounds that they were barred by the Telecom Act of 1996. In Aug. 2002, the 11th Circuit reversed the dist. court ruling, reinstating Covad’s antitrust claims and remanding the case to the trial court for further proceedings. The Supreme Court subsequently issued a ruling in the Trinko case, which upheld the dismissal of an antitrust case alleging a single breach of an incumbent phone company’s duty under the Telecom Act to share its networks with competitors. The Supreme Court also remanded the 11th Circuit decision for further action to comport with Trinko. Covad said the parties had 21 days to ask the full court to rehear the case. A BellSouth spokesman said his company was “evaluating our position and what steps we will take next.” He said he was “happy” that “the bulk of the [Covad] claims” in the case had been thrown out. Telecom attorney Andrew Lipman said the 11th Circuit decision was “significant for Covad, but each [similar antitrust] case has to go forward on a case-be-case basis.” He said while the decision in Trinko “didn’t completely foreclose the ability of competitors to bring antitrust suits… it required [them to be] much more narrow. Complaints have to be drafted with surgical precision to avoid raising causes of action that otherwise could be raised under the Telecom Act.”
The Senate passed a bill designed to encourage collaborative research without fear of patent challenges, sending the legislation to the White House. President Bush is expected to sign the act.
The Senate Fri. passed 2 copyright enforcement bills designed to respond to copyright infringement on P2P networks, including one that would give the Justice Dept. the authority to pursue civil cases against alleged infringing file-sharers.
In his most comprehensive remarks so far on broadband and telecom issues, President Bush told a packed auditorium of public officials at the Commerce Dept. he views broadband rollout, including broadband over powerlines (BPL), more efficient use of the spectrum and wireless broadband, as key building blocks of the U.S. economy.
Judges of the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, Thurs. remanded FCC’s major rules for cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations and the concentration of broadcast ownership in local markets. The court said the FCC should fix flaws in its diversity index, which it used to determine the new local cross-ownership rules.
AT&T said it would immediately stop competing for local and long distance residential customers in 7 states. It said the decision was a result of a decision by the Administration and FCC earlier this month not to appeal the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling overturning the Commissions UNE rules (CD June 10 p1). The 7 states -- O., Mo., Wash., Tenn., La., Ark. and N.H. -- have a population of 38 million. AT&T, which has 4.4 million UNE-P based customers, also said it would assess its presence in other states.
On April 8, 2004, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation amended and approved the Rail Security Act of 2004 (S. 2273). On May 21, 2004, the Committee reported S. 2273 (Senate Report 108-278) and the bill was placed on the Senate legislative calendar.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) on Thurs. that had similarities to a version moving in the House Judiciary Committee, but it appeared not to be as restrictive on satellite broadcasters. The Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a replacement version of SHVIA reauthorization that was closer to House Judiciary legislation, according to industry sources and a spokesman for Senate Judiciary ranking Democrat Leahy (Vt.) SBCA said it was a “move in the right direction,” but added it still had some concerns with the bill. NAB didn’t return phone calls.