Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2004/07/13.asp
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 05:10:15+00:00

Document:
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 936, July 13, 2004.
July 13, 2004, 9:00 AM ET, Alert No. 936.
7/12. The U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued its opinion [17 pages in PDF] in Opera Plaza v. Hoang, a case involving federal jurisdiction over disputes regarding the placement of satellite dishes. The Appeals Court affirmed the District Court's dismissal of a claim brought by a homeowners association seeking to enforce its dish policy.
The Opera Plaza Residential Parcel Homeowners Association (Opera Plaza) is a homeowners association that adopted a policy prohibiting the placement of satellite dishes in common areas of the condominium complex. Tuan and Betty Hoang own a condo within the premises of Opera Plaza. They installed a satellite dish on the exterior of their condo in a common area.
Opera Plaza filed complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against the Hoang's in which they alleged three causes of action. First, they sought declaratory relief that the Opera Plaza satellite dish policy is valid. Second, they sought injunctive relief requiring the Hoangs to remove their dish. Third, they sought damages for breach of contract.
Diversity of citizenship is lacking. Thus, Opera Plaza asserted that there exists federal question jurisdiction. Specifically, it cited § 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to regulate over the air reception devices, including satellite dishes.
The District Court dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. This appeal followed. The Appeals Court affirmed.
The Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law No. 104-104) with language pertaining to over the air reception devices (OTARD). § 207 of the Act provides that "Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, pursuant to section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934, promulgate regulations to prohibit restrictions that impair a viewer's ability to receive video programming services through devices designed for over-the-air reception of television broadcast signals, multichannel multipoint distribution service, or direct broadcast satellite services." This section is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 303 notes.
In addition, § 205 of the Act amends 47 U.S.C. § 303 (which lists the powers of the Commission), to add a new subsection 303(v). It provides that the FCC shall "Have exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the provision of direct-to-home satellite services. As used in this subsection, the term ``direct-to-home satellite services´´ means the distribution or broadcasting of programming or services by satellite directly to the subscriber's premises without the use of ground receiving or distribution equipment, except at the subscriber's premises or in the uplink process to the satellite."
The FCC promptly promulgated, and has since amended, its implementing regulation. It is codified at 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000. The FCC also maintains a shorter summary in its web site titled "Fact Sheet: Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule".
The Appeals Court held that "§ 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ... does not confer jurisdiction on the federal courts to hear a routine suit by a condominium homeowners association to enforce its rules against the placement of a satellite television dish in common areas."
It further held that "no sufficient federal question exists as to any of Opera Plaza's three causes of action, and as a result affirm the district court’s conclusion that Opera Plaza’s complaint did not raise substantial questions of federal law sufficient to confer federal jurisdiction."
The Court reasoned that neither the statute nor the FCC's implementing regulation creates a private right of action. Moreover, all three of Opera Plaza's claims are state law claims. § 207 of the Act, and the FCC's regulation, are not raised by the complaint. Rather, they might be asserted by the Hoang's as defenses; but, this is insufficient to provide federal question jurisdiction.
The Court also wrote that Opera Plaza's remedy is to bring suit in state court.
Hypothetically, the Appeals Court might have reached the opposite determination if the Hoangs had filed the complaint in federal court. That is, if Opera Plaza had removed the Hoang's dish, fined the Hoangs, or otherwise prompted the Hoangs to file suit, then they might have plead that any action taken by Opera Plaza was in reliance upon a state law that was preempted by §§ 205 and 207 the Telecommunications Act, and that Opera Plaza violated the FCC OTARD regulation. If this had been the nature of the case, then the Court might have found that the complaint did raise a substantial question of federal law, and ruled that the federal court did possess subject matter jurisdiction.
Perhaps there is another unwritten rationale underlying the decisions of both the District Court and the Appeals Court. That is, federal courts do not want to devote their resources and talents to resolving nickel and dime disputes involving pots, pans, and dishes.
This case is Opera Plaza Residential Parcel Homeowners Association v. Tuan Hoang and Betty Hoang, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 02-16682, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, D.C. No. CV-02-01084-WHA, William Alsup presiding. Judge Barry Silverman wrote the opinion of the three judge panel, in which Judges Jay Bybee and Michael Hawkins joined.
The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour, and at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider HR 4766, the agriculture appropriations bill. See, Republican Whip Notice.
The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM for morning hour. It will then resume consideration of the motion to proceed to SJRes 40, the "Federal Marriage Amendment".
9:30 AM. The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will host a press conference to announce its inventor of the year award. See, notice. Location: National Press Club, Holeman Lounge, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor. The IPO will also host an invitation only reception in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. For more information, contact Susan Lusk at susan@ipo.org or 202 466-2396.
9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearings on the proposed reauthorization of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. See, notice. The hearing will be webcast. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.
5:00 PM. The House Rules Committee will meet to adopt a rule for consideration of HR 4759, the "U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act".
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The agenda for July 14 and 15 includes consideration of several technology related items, including HRes 705, urging the President to resolve the disparate treatment of direct and indirect taxes presently provided by the World Trade Organization (WTO), HRes 576, urging People's Republic of China to improve its protection of intellectual property rights, and HR 4759, the "United States-Australia Free Trade Implementation Act". See, Republican Whip Notice.
9:00 AM - 1:15 PM. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host an event titled "Kids.us Forum: Developing a Safe Place on the Internet for Children". See, NTIA notice and notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 108, at Pages 31590-31591. Location: Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW, Room 4830.
10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold an open executive session. The agenda includes (1) a mock mark up to consider proposed legislation implementing the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, (2) consideration of S 2610, the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, and (3) consideration of the nominations of Joey Russell George (to be Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration), Patrick O'Carroll (Inspector General, Social Security Administration), Timothy Bitsberger (Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets, Department of the Treasury), and Paul Jones and Charles Kolbe (IRS Oversight Board). Location: Room 215, Dirksen.
10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Competition and Consumer Choice in the MVPD Marketplace -- Including an Examination of Proposals to Expand Consumer Choice, Such as A La Carte and Themed-Tiered Offerings". Press contact: Jon Tripp (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Sean Bonyun (Upton) at 202 225-3761. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.
11:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology: What the Future Holds for Commerce, Security, and the Consumer". Press contacts: Samantha Jordan (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Paul Flusche (Stearns) at 202 225-5744. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.
5:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee will meet to mark up a draft implementing proposal of HR __, the "United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act". Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.
TIME CHANGE. 9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications will hold a hearing on implementation of the Nielsen local people meter TV rating system. See, notice. The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.
10:30 AM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a conference titled "Should the Net's Physical Layer be Regulated?". Christopher Yoo (Vanderbilt Law School) will give the opening address. There will be a panel discussion by Joe Waz (Comcast), Rick Whitt (WorldCom), Adam Thierer (Cato Institute), and Randolph May (PFF). Kenneth Ferree (Chief of the FCC's Media Bureau) will be the luncheon address. See, notice and registration pages. For more information, contact Brooke Emmerick at 202 289-8928 or bemmerick@pff.org. Press contact: David Fish at 202 775-2644 or dfish@brodeur.com. Location: Washington Mandarin Oriental hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave., SW.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) and Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding digital audio broadcasting (DAB). This item is FCC 04-99 in MB Docket No. 99-325. See, story titled "FCC Announces FNPRM and NOI Regarding Digital Audio Broadcasting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 878, April 16, 2004, and notice in the Federal Register, May 17, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 95, at Pages 27874 - 27885.
10:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a status conference in U.S. v. Microsoft, and New York v. Microsoft, Case Nos. 1:1998-cv-01232 and 3, Judge Colleen Kotelly presiding. Location: Courtroom 11, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave.
7/12. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Internet Policy Working Group (IPWG) announced that it will host an event that it describes as "a roundtable discussion to address international issues associated with the migration of communications services and applications to IP-based technologies". It will be on Friday, July 30 from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM. See, FCC notice [PDF]. The event will be held in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, SW.

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