Despite paying Inmarsat more than $1.7 billion under the terms of an L-band coordination agreement, Inmarsat never resolved terminal interference issues that impeded Ligado's use of the band, Ligado said in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. Ligado filed the lawsuit under seal last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware in conjunction with its Chapter 11 filing with the court (see 2501060026).

A federal appellate court panel on Friday seemed largely satisfied with FCC assertions that financier BIU will have an opportunity to bring its fraud-related claims before the agency if and when it gets a state court decision in its favor. A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel heard oral argument Friday in BIU's challenge of the FCC allowing satellite operator Spectrum Five (S5) to withdraw a complaint against Inmarsat (see 2406100038) (docket 24-1189). BIU has a financial stake in S5.

A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court signaled on Friday it will likely uphold Congress’ TikTok divestment law because the company’s Beijing ties raise legitimate security concerns.

Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) axing their planned Venu sports streaming joint venture is unsurprising, industry watchers said. The programmers announced Venu's demise early Friday (see 2501100002).

The telecom industry and public interest groups supported government arguments asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program (see 2501090045). In a decision that sent shock waves through the telecom industry, judges on the conservative circuit agreed with Consumers' Research that USF violates the Constitution by improperly delegating Congress’ power to the FCC and the agency's power to a private company, the Universal Service Administrative Co. (see 2412100060).

The office of Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to become chairman, said Thursday night he doesn’t oppose Senate Commerce Committee GOP Telecom Policy Director Arielle Roth as a potential nominee to fill the commission seat Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will vacate Jan. 20. Carr Chief of Staff Greg Watson pushed back against reports framing Carr as opposing a Roth nomination, a position that would put him in conflict with Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz is strongly backing Roth behind the scenes, leading some to see her as the front-runner for Rosenworcel's seat, communications sector lobbyists told us (see 2412110046).

At the SEC's insistence, tech media and telecom (TMT) companies are increasingly warning investors and the public about cyberattack risks, as well as steps they're taking when incidents are discovered. The SEC began requiring that companies report on cybersecurity practices and incidents in 2023. And TMT companies’ cybersecurity disclosures in their 2024 10-K annual reports varied widely in depth and detail: TDS' totaled a little more than 300 words; Lumen's was more than 1,400.

The NAB’s ATSC 3.0 task force, The Future of TV Initiative (see 2408300030), is expected to produce a final report “soon” members said, but broadcasters told us much of the impetus behind the effort has faded due to the coming leadership change at the FCC. Commissioner Brendan Carr, the agency's chairman-designate, is seen as more favorable to the 3.0 transition, broadcasters said. The task force first met in June 2023, and members said it would issue a final report in fall 2024. “It is a daunting effort to put that report together in a way that everyone can sign off on the language,” said Robert Folliard, a task force member and Gray Media senior vice president-government relations and distribution. “We expect the report to come out very soon,” an NAB spokesperson said.

The FCC in a U.S. Supreme Court filing defended the USF in general, and the contribution factor more specifically, as the justices prepared to hear what could be the most consequential FCC case in years (see 2412100060). SCOTUS agreed in November to review the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 9-7 en banc decision, which sided with Consumers' Research and found that the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.”

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.