Justia U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Title VI of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-96, 126 Stat. 156, known as the Spectrum Act, authorizes the FCC to shift a portion of the licensed airwaves from over-the-air television broadcasters to mobile broadband providers. The Act directs the Commission to carry out the objective of repurposing spectrum through three interdependent initiatives: (i) a reverse auction to determine the prices at which broadcasters would voluntarily sell their spectrum rights; (ii) a reassignment of broadcasters who wish to retain their rights to new channels in a smaller band of spectrum; and (iii) a forward auction to sell the blocks of newly available spectrum to wireless providers, with the proceeds used to compensate broadcasters who voluntarily relinquished their spectrum rights and to pay the relocation expenses of broadcasters reassigned to new channels. Members of the television broadcast industry petitioned for review of the Commission's orders, arguing that the decisions announced in the orders conflict with the Act or are otherwise arbitrary and capricious. The court rejected petitioners’ contention at Chevron step one that the statute unambiguously forecloses the Commission’s use of the improved TVStudy program along with updated data inputs when applying OET-69 to determine a broadcaster’s coverage area and population served; the court rejected petitioners’ argument that the Commission’s decision to use TVStudy and updated inputs amounts to an unreasonable interpretation of the Act at Chevron step two; the court rejected petitioners' arbitrary-and-capricious arguments; in regards to petitioners' procedural challenge, any error in OET’s (rather than the Commission’s) issuing the Public Notice was harmless; and the court rejected petitioners' remaining arguments. Accordingly, the court denied the petitions for review. View "Nat'l Ass'n of Broadcasters v. FCC" on Justia Law

Petitioners, large entertainment companies, sought review of the Commission's order requiring the major cable companies who were applying for merger to submit certain proprietary documents for review and proposal to make them available for examination by other players in the cable industry on an expedited schedule. The court granted the petition for review and vacated the order, concluding that the Commission has failed to overcome its presumption against disclosure of confidential information by failing to explain why VPCI is a "necessary link in a chain of evidence that will resolve an issue before the Commission." The order amounts to a substantive and important departure from prior Commission policy, and the Commission has failed to explain the departure. View "CBS Corp. v. FCC" on Justia Law

Yasser Abbas is the son of current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. In 2012, the Foreign Policy Group published an article on its website about Yasser and his brother Tarek, asking: “Are the sons of the Palestinian president growing rich off their father’s system?” and “Have they enriched themselves at the expense of regular Palestinians – and even U.S. taxpayers?” Yasser filed suit, alleging defamation under D.C. law. The D.C. Anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Act of 2010 (Anti-SLAPP Act) requires courts, upon motion by the defendant, to dismiss defamation lawsuits that target political or public advocacy, unless the plaintiff can show a likelihood of success on the merits. Applying that law, the district court dismissed. The D.C. Circuit affirmed, holding that the allegations did not suffice to make out a defamation claim under D.C. law. The questions were not factual representations. The court acknowledged that a federal court exercising diversity jurisdiction may not apply the D.C. AntiSLAPP Act’s special motion to dismiss provision, which makes it easier for defendants to obtain dismissal before trial than the more plaintiff-friendly standards in Federal Rules 12 and 56. View "Abbas v. Foreign Policy Grp., LLC" on Justia Law

In 2012, the New York Times published the Sanger article, describing a classified government initiative to “undermine the Iranian nuclear program” through “increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems.” Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, Freedom Watch sought records from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the State Department, including “information that refers or relates in any way to information” released or made available to Sanger. The CIA, NSA, and DoD cited national security; each stated that it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence” of responsive records. After FOIA’s deadline expired, Freedom Watch filed suit. The district court dismissed the CIA and NSA based on failure to exhaust administrative remedies; granted DoD summary judgment based on FOIA’s national security exemption; and granted the State Department partial judgment, finding certain requests unduly speculative. Concerning information released to Sanger, the State Department obtained a 60-day extension and produced 79 documents. The court denied a motion to depose a records custodian, finding no evidence of bad faith, and granted the State Department summary judgment. Before oral argument, Freedom Watch moved to supplement the record with news articles relating to the revelation that former Secretary of State Clinton had maintained a private email account on a private server and sought to expand the search on remand. The D.C. Circuit remanded to allow the court to oversee the search of the former Secretary’s emails for records responsive to Freedom Watch’s FOIA request, but otherwise affirmed. View "Freedom Watch, Inc. v. Nat'l Sec. Agency" on Justia Law

The National Labor Relations Board dismissed a charge that the Union violated the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 158(b)(1)(A), by failing to remove derisive and allegedly threatening comments posted on a Facebook page maintained for Union members. The comments, written by Union members without the permission of the Union, appeared while the Union was on strike against Veolia and made disparaging remarks about people who crossed the picket line. The Board held that the Union was not responsible for the Facebook comments because “the 3 individuals who posted the comments were neither alleged nor found to be agents of the [Union].” The D.C. Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that the Union should be held responsible for the Facebook entries posted by Union members because a Union officer controlled the Facebook page. The Union’s private Facebook page was not analogous to misconduct on a picket line; it was not accessible or viewable by anyone other than active Union members and the disputed postings were made by persons who acted on their own without the permission of the Union. View "Weigand v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd." on Justia Law

The Federal Communications Commission denied applications to renew 689 wireless spectrum licenses in the 24 gigahertz (GHz) and 39 GHz bands for failure to meet the “substantial service” performance standard during the license term. FiberTower claimed that the Commission’s interpretation of the performance standard as requiring some actual construction in each license area conflicted with the Commission’s statutory mandate in 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(4)(B). The D.C. Circuit declined to address that argument, which was not presented to the Commission. FiberTower also argued that the Commission’s interpretation of “substantial service” was inconsistent with that standard as originally promulgated by the Commission. The court rejected that argument. The court vacated with respect to 42 licenses because FiberTower claimed that their renewal applications stated construction had occurred. View "FiberTower Spectrum Holdings, LLC v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n" on Justia Law

MVH and Holy Family Communications each applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a license to operate a noncommercial educational radio station in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York. To do so, the agency used its comparative selection criteria, which it had promulgated through a notice-and-comment rulemaking. By application of those criteria, the Commission found Holy Family had the superior application and awarded it the license. The D.C. Circuit affirmed, rejecting an argument that the criterion upon which the outcome turned--the weight given to an applicant’s plan to broadcast to underserved populations-- either violated the Communications Act of 1934, which requires the Commission to distribute licenses fairly, or was arbitrary and capricious. That criterion is part of a reasonable framework for achieving goals consistent with the Commission’s statutory mandate, and because MVH offered no support for a waiver except that it came close to the threshold it needed to get the license. View "Mary V. Harris Found. v. Fed. Commc'n Comm'n" on Justia Law

“Musical work” and the owner’s exclusive right to perform the work in public are protected by 17 U.S.C. 106(4). Broadcast of a musical work is a performance and requires a license from the copyright owner. Copyright Act amendments afford the copyright owner of a sound recording “the narrow but exclusive right ‘to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.’” The law requires “certain digital music services . . . to pay recording companies and recording artists when they transmit[] sound recordings” and provides for appointment of three Copyright Royalty Judges. If sound recording copyrights owners are unable to negotiate a royalty with digital music services, the Judges may set reasonable rates and terms. The Judges set royalty rates and defined terms for statutorily defined satellite digital audio radio services (SDARS) and preexisting subscription services (PSS). SoundExchange, which collects and distributes royalties to copyright owners, argued that the Judges set rates too low and erred in defining “Gross Revenues” and eligible deductions for SDARS. A PSS that provides music-only television channels appealed, arguing that PSS rates were set too high. The D.C. Circuit affirmed, concluding that the Judges of the Board acted within their broad discretion and on a sufficient record. View "Music Choice v. Copyright Royalty Bd." on Justia Law

This case concerns Congress's requirement that the FCC establish rules prescribing a Uniform System of Accounts for use by telephone companies. The Commission adopted a new accounting system in 1986 (Part 32) to respond to the introduction of competition and new services. Section 10(a), 47 U.S.C. 160, provided the FCC with the authority to forbear from enforcing provisions of the Communication Act as well as its own regulations. Petitioners, Verizon and AT&T, appealed the FCC's denial of their petition to forbear from applying the requirement that incumbent price cap carriers maintain a Uniform System of Accounts. Petitioners argued that the switch to price cap regulation has rendered Part 32 useless, and section 10 therefore requires the FCC to forebear from applying it to incumbent price cap carriers. The court concluded that the FCC reasonably concluded that it continued to need Part 32 data to ensure that access rates were not discriminatory. Accordingly, the court concluded that the FCC's interpretation and application of section 10 are permissible and denied the petition for review. View "Verizon v. FCC" on Justia Law

Sorenson is a purveyor of telephones for the hearing-impaired that have words scrolling on a screen during a call. Sorenson's technology uses the Internet to transmit and receive both the call itself and the derived captions (IP CTS). Sorenson gives its phones out for free, with the captioning feature turned on. On appeal, Sorenson challenged the FCC's promulgation of rules regarding IP CTS under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq. The court concluded that the FCC's rule requiring all new users to register and self-certify their hearing loss, but only if the provider sold the IP CTS equipment for $75 or more, was arbitrary and capricious because the FCC failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action. Further, the FCC's requirement that IP CTS phones "have a default setting of captions off, so that all IP CTS users must affirmatively turn on captioning," was unsupported by the evidence and, rather, contradicted by it. Accordingly, the court granted the petitions for review.View "Sorenson Communications Inc., et al. v. FCC, et al." on Justia Law