FCC should consider revoking all of WorldCom’s wireless licenses ...
FCC should consider revoking all of WorldCom’s wireless licenses and Sec. 214 authorizations for lack of “good character and candor,” American Enterprise Institute fellow Gregory Sidak said in speech Oct. 1 at Royal Society of Arts in London that…
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was made available in U.S. Mon. WorldCom’s accounting fraud “poses a serious question for telecommunications regulators,” said Sidak, former attorney at FCC. “By statute, wireless licensees must have ‘character’ as a basic qualification” and company doesn’t have to engage in criminal behavior to be deemed lacking in character, he said. In addition, “WorldCom’s accounting fraud also destroys the company’s credibility in proceedings before regulatory commissions and courts,” Sidak said. Therefore, FCC and other govt. bodies -- state regulatory commissions, federal courts, Justice Dept. Antitrust Div. and U.S. Trade Representative -- also should issue notices “to show cause why pleadings or comments filed by WorldCom should not be stricken,” Sidak said. If FCC stripped WorldCom of its licenses and certifications, company probably would be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation but regulators should resist temptation to give company another chance, he said: “In WorldCom’s case, a second chance holds little promise. Its brand name is probably worthless because of the taint of fraud and its most capable managers probably already jumped ship... Keeping WorldCom on life support would worsen the tragedy.” -- http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID335180_code02 1001500.pdf?abstractid=335180.