Opinion ID: 311379
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Value to the Recipient Category

Text: 21 The Commission produced the official who had originally refused the NCTA's request for inspection to testify on the request for documents, listings and records used to determine the 'value to the recipient' of the privileges granted by the Commission. Adhering generally to the affidavit he had filed in support of the motion for summary judgment, this witness testified that the Commission itself, after receiving from its budget office a figure for the total cost factor for each industry, worked from this to obtain the fee schedule by taking account of statutorily designated factors, including value to the recipient. 22 He stated that, as set forth in his letter to the NCTA on behalf of the Commission, the Commission had relied upon the knowledge and financial aspects of the communications industry acquired over the years from vast numbers of confidential financial statements, confidential staff memoranda, and various trade publications. While asserting that the Commission had only relied on them in part for its noncost adjustments, he did testify that the Commission still had these documents. He added that the NCTA had been denied them because the request was so indefinite that it was difficult to identify and assemble without totally unreasonable expenditure of Commission manpower. Also, he said, some of the documents were confidential. Elaborating with respect to the internal memoranda, he said: 23 [Q. W]ith respect to the approach taken, the degree used, is there a conclusion reached [in the memoranda] as to the approach as to the degree of value with respect to the CATV industry, all of them mentioned in the Commission's rule making proposal? Were any factual conclusions reached that were put on paper? 24 A. It's very difficult to distinguish between actual conclusions and an opinion of the writer, an advocacy of a certain point of view. This is a very sensitive program and there were some very strongly held views amongst the staff and amongst the Commissioners; and these internal staff memoranda contain these views and these advocacies. 15 25 Insofar as the NCTA's request went to the trade publications and the confidential financial statements, no further testimony was taken. Since the witness had testified that no financial statements had been received from the CATV industry, it is possible that the NCTA does not want to inspect them. Indeed, the Commission's affidavit broadly asserted that CATV is NCTA's sole concern-although this could either be a representation of NCTA's position or a claim, contrary to the Act, that NCTA needed a more direct interest to support a right to inspection. 26 But, since the NCTA could hardly comment on the adjustments for value to the recipient without knowing the comparative status of other assessed industries, the NCTA's request seems more likely to encompass all of the Commission's supporting documents. And, since the actual wording of the request included all of the documents, the question whether they must be produced remains.