<Only place the FCC can go is to the Supreme Court and see if they will take the case. Personally I don't think they would touch it with a ten foot pole. > Being an international expert on USA constitutional law, I expect that the Supreme Court would hear the case because this is a fight among:
1.....Congress, which set stupid ASTM Colour Test rules for the C-Block auction aspirants [you were better to be darker in colour rather than lighter] and set X and Y chromosome rules to benefit people with XX chromosomes and set 'little company' rules and set 'entrepreneur' rules, all of which were some kind of madness. Congress also set ASTM Colour Test rules for hiring employees with advantage to melanin-rich people, which might explain Kennard - maybe he has great skin colour but not much brains. Maybe that also explains Condominium Rice [great chromosomes and great ASTM colour] and Colonisation Powell [great melanin content]. Congress seems to me to have set unconstitutional rules to favour racially and chromosomally-selected people for the auction and restricted the rights of large companies and under foreign companies [international WTO rules mean free trade and globalisation]. I thought government-orchestrated racism and sexism were illegal in the USA.
2.....Federal Communications Commission - set absurd payment rules, defaulted on supplying spectrum to the successful bidder, offered spectrum to new bidders when it had already been sold, complied with the constitutionally absurd rules set by Congress [if Congress had banned Jews, would the FCC have complied and said they were just doing their job?], designed absurd and unfair payment rules which allowed Pocket Communication and others to bid high prices then default on payment via bankruptcy, making a farce of the process, keeping the spectrum out of service for 5 years now, appeared to collude with Nextel and now Kennard is reported to be in the pay of Nextel which seems to me to represent a conflict of interest. The FCC seems to have swaggered around with their own power and prestige being the main issue rather than the public interest and compliance with the constitution.
3.....NextWave Telecom, which defaulted on payment, perhaps as a strategic move with the view to acquiring the spectrum for $1bn instead of the agreed price given the outcome of similar bankruptcies in the C-Block auction. This expert [me] pointed out in 1996 that this could be a bad move because the spectrum, back in April 1996, was obviously not undervalued, despite the ravings of all commentators that I read. NextWave blundered! Now they are trying to rescue the situation. By NextWave, I mean the shareholders of NextWave, who blundered by not financing the spectrum in a timely manner].
4.....Verizon, other bidders and service providers who are both USA and international companies [or internationally-owned] who will not want to be diddled out of spectrum they think they own. Verizon is already whining like a fleet of 747s. They are operating in a heavily regulated USA and international environment with all sorts of absurd rules [from pricing plan approval to who can own what, where and who can sell what and where they can sell it].
5.....The USA public. Who would like to get their cotton-pickin' hands on the $16bn [via their government].
6.....The president. I guess he's in on the act one way or another, such as appointing the FCC people. Clinton perhaps unconstitutionally appointed Kennard [by emphasizing ASTM Colour or donations rather than chromosomes or brains].
7.....The world. There are international rules now established promoting free trade, ownership of businesses across borders, WTO, UN and other laws, from spectrum to investment, marketing rights, personal freedom and all that jazz.
8.....The Senate. I suppose they would want to be in on the act as well. Since they rubber-stamp stuff, I guess they are party to proceedings in some way or other.
9.....The USA judiciary. This is big stuff with many conflicting interested parties with quite a shambles going on and lots of angry people all trying to get their paws on $16bn. The happy situation is that there is currently so much value in the spectrum that all unconstitutionally damaged parties can be made whole. I think the Supreme Court will enjoy having a go at this.
I guess the FCC will be keen to take it to the top.
If the whole thing had been conducted on WackyWireless principles, the whole mess would never have happened.
Mqurice
PS: Racism, sexism and nepotism seem rampant in the USA. <Other than the chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell (Gen. Colin Powell's son), I am not aware of any other appointments by Bush to FCC.> The USA seems to be run like a family fiefdom. The Bushes, the Powells, the great gender, the excellent colour. At least there are elections so that the public can call a halt when they like. |
