FCC Sued Over DTV Transition Info

Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in US District Court for the District of Columbia in an attempt to compel the Federal Communications Commission to turn over documents related to the digital television transition. Judicial Watch filed its first FOIA request in February following a press report claiming a telecom adviser to President Obama's transition team stood to benefit from the delay of the transition. The delay, it was stated, would slow up Verizon's rollout of a new broadband network that would compete with existing service Clearwire. Clearwire is backed by strategic investors that include Intel Capital, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. In its lawsuit, Judicial Watch says the FCC provided highly redacted documents related to the decision to delay the transition (essentially comprising a series of status reports), withheld other documents and provided no communications with the White House concerning the delay. While the FCC did not comment, a copy of the commission's May 8 response to Judicial Watch does indicate the FCC's justification for the timing and nature of the material it did release. The document also includes a promise to supplement the response after it had checked with the White House about what privileges, "if any," it would assert.