There apparently is growing sentiment among some CEA member compa...
There apparently is growing sentiment among some CEA member companies that pursuing the legal fight to overturn the FCC’s DTV tuner mandate would be futile. But Michael Petricone, CEA vp-technology policy, said his group’s official position hadn’t changed since…
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Oct. 28 when the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., repudiated the CEA and upheld the FCC’s argument that it had the statutory authority to impose the mandate (CD Oct 29 p1). Petricone said CEA was continuing to study its legal options, including the possibility of pressing for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also said again that although CEA disagreed with the Appeals Court decision, manufacturers would abide by it. Petricone said CEA would face an unspecified deadline for seeking a Supreme Court hearing on the issue, but the deadline wasn’t imminent. CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro told us the “odds” of the Supreme Court’s “accepting a petition” from CEA were stacked against it. Sources familiar with the CEA Video Div. said its board hadn’t met or voted on the issue whether to press for a further appeal, but they said there was a rising groundswell of opposition to continuing the court fight on the ground that it wasn’t winnable and to press forward with a Supreme Court challenge would be a waste of CEA resources.