Hi Ron and Threaders,
Been lurking for a while and I thought it was appropriate to chime in now that I am long ATHM. I'm a patient investor and this is one I've been hoping to add to the portfolio for a while. I think it was a gift that the market decided to panic this afternoon.
Let's just sort out some of the issues here. The Mt. Hood PUC and their crowd over in Multnomah Co. are what are considered by most of the regulators in the country to be way over the top in their interpretation of public access. Oregon is famous for this kind of half-baked thinking. A few years ago some zealots decided we should put a measure on the ballot to turn PP&L into a publicly owned electric utility. Just one detail escaped the focus of the petitioners. No one stopped to ask how they were going to pay for the system, and when the cost of revenue bonds to finance the purchase was finally calculated, it turned out the the cost of electricity would rise by 20-50% for the new "owners". Ahem, issue dropped.
Regarding the legal status of the suit. The market seemingly forgot that the "petition" submitted to the district court by T was just the start of the process. Today's ruling is sort of like Agassi being behind Love-15, before he finally takes the set (perhaps I'm being a bit prescient here). However, the Court of Appeals out here is quite a bit more sober than some of the district judges we have scattered about. And, did I mention the Supremes? What I mean to say, folks, is that we are just starting this waltz.
Now I have been following with some interest the lobbying that Steve Case has been doing in D.C. Any of you who have been following that story know that Case is not receiving a very sympathetic hearing in the Senate or from William Kennard. The Feds have it basically right regarding the development of the Internet. They are keeping their hands off. Y'all remember the line: "The power to tax is the power to destroy", same goes for the power to regulate. Well, one thing I will say I favor of the Clinton administration, is that they "get it" as far as the Internet is concerned, the attitude is "hand's off", (no flames, please!). Kennard indicated to Case that if he so desperately wanted broadband cable access, that Case could very well buy into the cable operations he was interested in. Kind of 180 degrees from the attitude of the Mt. Hood folks.
It boils down to a very simple calculation here: FCC vs. Mt. Hood PUC, who's gonna prevail?
Ron, consider me cheerled.
Best, Ry
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