back to article DC court says Dish skirted rules in US airwave auction

A US Court of Appeals has upheld US broadband watchdog the FCC's decision to bar companies connected to satellite provider Dish Network from claiming discounts on their bids in a 2014 wireless spectrum auction. The DC Circuit's ruling Tuesday said the commission was right to withhold $3.3bn in small business credits claimed by …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    DirecTV?

    Me thinks you’re confused. AT&T bought DirecTV and neither of them bought DISH.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Should it not go back to bidding?

    Surely Dish must have known it would get caught and if they truly wanted an increase in regional carriers that would be the best way to do it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      If Dish pays the full undiscounted price then it doesn't need to go back to auction - if no other small company was willing to buy it at the discounted price Dish's sockpuppets paid and Dish is willing to buy it at full price what's the point?

      The big question is what the heck is Dish going to do with all their wireless bandwidth. They've bought a lot, and never used any. Much of it is "use it or lose it" so they either have to start using it soon, or get bought out by someone who will.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Article is one sided and inaccurate.

    First of all, Direct TV has not purchased Dish.

    Second, while the court sided with the FCC on whether Dish had defacto control, it did not come to the conclusion that Dish cheated. Additionally, the court decision sided with SNR and Northstar AGAINST the FCC in terms of being able to make changes in order to comply, and sent the case back to the FCC.

    If you haven’t read the actual decision, it can be found here.

    https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/0/BC34D9D4DF0199678525818B00501696/$file/15-1330-1690493.pdf

    Posted anonymously because everyone hates dish and they want to take it out on me, shooting the messenger instead of taking the time to read.

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So, how was that...

      If you take a tax deduction because the IRS tells you to take the deduction, and then next year tells you that you can't have the deduction after all, have you committed fraud?

      The credits are discounts on their OWN money, not money from the government coffers. The government told them, in writing, that they could take the discount but it was subject to further review. Exploiting a loophole is NOT fraud, it is just simply following the rules of the game to your own advantage.

      Fraud is to make false statements or misconstrue truth in order to gain something to which you are not entitled.

      Additionally, the court was very clear in that SNR and Northstar were honest and up front about it from the very beginning - no fraud involved.

      I suggest you actually read the court decision, it is quite enlightening.

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