# EchoStar Ruling Being Worked On



## rtt2 (Jan 27, 2003)

EchoStar Ruling Being Worked On
05/05/03 2:46PM

A U.S. District Court judge in Miami, who could terminate the local TV service of millions of EchoStar Communications customers, is working on his opinion.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=story&doc_id=118503&display=breakingNews

I don't have a subscription so I can't post the rest of the story


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

This could hurt Echostar GREATLY and help Murdoch GREATLY! How come Dish and not DirecTv? Is it a punishment for providing locals when they were not supposed to or something and not going to be allowed to provide any at all? This would be really bad for Dish.


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## John Hodgson (Mar 28, 2002)

Well rtt2, I DO have a subscription, but can't and won't post the article here because I choose to follow the "Users Agreement"


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## tammyandlee (Apr 22, 2002)

http://www.dbsforums.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004757;p=1

I think this link will explain everything


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## Greg Bimson (May 5, 2003)

This already happened to DirecTV. Try doing a search on DirecTV and the date Feburary 28, 1999.

The networks had an injunction granted against DirecTV for this very subject. That is why the SHVIA included a grandfather clause, for the DirecTV viewers that lost their feeds due to the court order.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

But you could synopsize it for us.


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## Greg Bimson (May 5, 2003)

Just from memory:

DirecTV was ordered to cut-off all distant subs that received a City Grade, Grade A, or Grade B signal. The injunction was handed down by Judge Lenore Nesbitt on July 10, 1998, and didn't take effect until February 28, 1999.

About one million subs lost their network feeds. That was until the SHVIA was passed, which then restored service to only the Grade B subs that were cut-off, and grandfathered those subs, as well as any Grade B sub that had service as of October 31, 1999.

This lawsuit is practically the continuation of the same lawsuit. This originally started with a station in Miami suing PrimeTime 24 for providing distant networks to unqualified subscribers. It then ballooned to include DirecTV and Dish Network. Dish Network is the only provider left yet to go through the whole process.


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## music_beans (Mar 21, 2003)

I am kind of confused on this matter. Does this have to do with DISTANT locals, or LOCAL locals? I don't want to lose 'em!


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## RichW (Mar 29, 2002)

Who really knows. However, if the judge rules against local carriage, look for E* to appeal and for Congress to get involved.

The goal of the NAB is to whittle away at distant signal carriage, even in the so-called "white areas". This has been the case since SHVIA was passed. Only a public outcry will stop this slow erosion of distant network carriage.


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## Greg Bimson (May 5, 2003)

It would probably only be for distant locals. However, it also depends on what the courts may be handcuffed with remedies prescribed by law.

No matter what the ruling is, the offended party will appeal immediately.


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