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actions, and the Supreme Court denied NITCO and NICATV's petition
for a writ of certiorari. See Northwestern Ind. Tel. Co. v. FCC,
872 F.2d 465 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert. denied 493 U.S. 1035-1036
(1990). These proceedings involving NICATV and NITCO before the
FCC, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,
and the Supreme Court, are collectively referred to for
convenience as the divestiture action.
Enforcement Action
During 1985 and 1986, after learning that NICATV and NITCO
were commencing appellate proceedings to have the FCC's 1985
orders reviewed by the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit, the FCC offered to them the option of placing
the alleged unlawfully constructed cable television facilities in
trust, pending the outcome of the appellate proceedings. NICATV
and NITCO, however, were unable to reach an agreement with the
FCC concerning such a trust, as the FCC, among other things,
proposed that any appreciation in the cable television
facilities, during the period that the facilities were held in
the trust, be contributed to charity if the FCC's position were
sustained. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit subsequently declined NICATV and NITCO's request to have
the FCC orders stayed. When NICATV and NITCO further declined to
divest themselves of the cable television facilities, the FCC
referred the matter to the Department of Justice for purposes of
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