Courts

Washington — Federal Communications
Commission Media Bureau chief Bill Lake
said two weeks ago that the commission’s
video competition report should be released
soon. One agency staffer said that could mean
“tomorrow or three months from now.”

Washington — A federal appeals court agreed last week
that programming costs are a defensible reason for a cable
operator to treat a regional sports network differently
than its own, co-owned service.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Mid-Atlantic
Sports Network’s appeal of a Federal Communications Commission
decision that Time Warner Cable had not discriminated
against it when it declined to carry MASN — and its
Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles Major League
Baseball games — on an analog tier in North Carolina.

Washington — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit has set a briefing schedule for a challenge
of the Federal Communications Commission’s network
neutrality rules by telco Verizon Communications and
wireless carrier MetroPCS, a schedule that suggests there
won’t be a decision until sometime in 2013.

A related case is on a faster track, though, and could
provide an early read into the court’s thinking.

Court’s Call On FCC’s Lowering Of Telecom Rate Still To Come

AT&T and T-Mobile want the court to try the Justice Department's antitrust suit against their proposed merger starting Jan. 16, while Justice says not until March 19.

According to a status report filed by Justice on talks with the companies about scheduling the trial, they will be willing to discuss that timing at their upcoming Sept. 21 scheduling conference with the judge.

Justice said they had come to an agreement on timing of other elements--like brief deadlines--but pointed out that the final trial date decision would affect those intervening dates.