- 36 - 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 ofPage: Previous 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011