Guess who Dish is suing now...

[CK SatGuy]

From Courthouse News Service:
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (CN) - Pointing out that its satellites are 22,236 miles above the Earth - not on the Hopi Reservation - Dish Network sued the tribe in Federal Court, challenging its $500 annual fee to provide satellite television service on the rez.
Dish Network, which listed the fair market value of its assets at $2.4 billion in its annual report for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, sued the top three members of the Hopi Tribe's Office of Revenue Commission, claiming the $500 annual licensing fee violates federal law.
Dish Network claims that fewer than 900 of its 14 million U.S. subscribers live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona.
The tribe first charged the fee in 2009, then sued Dish Network in Tribal Court in December 2011, seeking an injunction ordering Dish to get a business license and pay an annual fee, plus "a $500 a day penalty for failure to obtain a license and pay
the annual fee in the past," according to the complaint.
Dish Network claims that only the Federal Communications Commission has power to regulate "direct-to-home satellite services," and that, by the nature of its service, Dish has no actual presence on the remote Hopi Reservation.
"In fact, DISH's satellites are 'geostationary,' meaning they move at the same velocity as the Earth itself, and therefore are stationed at a fixed longitude, some 22,236 miles above the Earth's equator," according to the complaint. "The programming is uplinked to these satellites from uplink centers in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Gilbert, Arizona, among other locations, none of which is situated on the Reservation. In turn, the several hundreds of programming networks that constitute DISH's DBS service travel to these uplink centers from points in the United States and abroad, none of which is on the reservation."
Dish seeks declaratory judgment that the Hopi lack the authority to charge the fee, and an injunction to stop it from doing so.
Dish Network is represented by Peter Kozinets, with Steptoe & Johnson in Phoenix.
The Hopi Reservation is about 1.5 million acres of land within the much larger Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. Members of the tribe live in 12 villages scattered across three high mesas
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/23/45845.htm

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well got to agree with DISH on this one. Its not a cable company where wires are strung across the roads.

 

[mdonnelly]

Looks more like a countersuit.

 

[Hall]

Easy solution to me, seeing as there's only (900) customers affected .... shut off service to them to ensure that they don't have any presence whatsoever on their land.

 

[jerryez]

If they are not doing business in my town, why do I pay a franchise fee on my Dish bill. A fee that is also added to my power bill, water bill, and garbage bill. Cox cable also adds this franchise fee.

 

[Hall]

If they are not doing business in my town, why do I pay a franchise fee on my Dish bill.

You can thank the cable company lobbyists for that. Just like in many states how they (cablecos) have gotten the state lawmakers to agree to taxing satellite service.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I don't pay a franchise fee here.

 

[digiblur]

None here either. I know the cable company passes that one on to the subs here though.

 

[Bobby]

No franchise fee here either. I do have to pay state tax, however....

 

[KE4EST]

All I pay here in NC is state tax.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Dish protesting because of a ridiculous fee? lol

 

[The Fat Man]

Not in my state.

 

[theoak]

Dish protesting because of a ridiculous fee? lol

Ha! Got a kick out of this.

 

[riffjim4069]

If they are not doing business in my town, why do I pay a franchise fee on my Dish bill. A fee that is also added to my power bill, water bill, and garbage bill. Cox cable also adds this franchise fee.

You shouldn't pay these illegal taxes on your satellite services. That's why satellite companies pay billions to lease spectrum from the FCC. Of course, I also feel that customers should pay franchise fees for subscription video services, such as VOD, delivered to the home using public rights of way. By the way, remind me to bill Dish/SATS and DirecTV $1M in registration fees and penalties for using land way, way, way above my home.

Would it be politically incorrect to ask what Chief Sitting Bull is smoking in his [strike]crack[/strike]peace pipe?

 

[Mr Tony]

I do find it funny that the "Hopi" tribe is suing Dish (or vise versa)

Maybe they want copyright infringement on the "Hopper" name

 

[dare2be]

I do find it funny that the "Hopi" tribe is suing Dish (or vise versa)

Maybe they want copyright infringement on the "Hopper" name

Now it makes sense. The $500 fee is just a naming rights fee.

 

[Mochuf]

All I pay here in NC is state tax.

In Michigan I only pay a 2.23% tax on my programming. The receiver fee is tax free. Since the state sales tax is 6%, I wonder if this is a user tax?

 

[LER]

Isn't the Hopi reservation covered by OTARD?

 

[manteca]

TIM HULL looks like he's working with the tribe when he compares the $500 annual fees with the revenues of dish. the tribe will start with $500 yearly, and then, will increase the fee when ever they like to much more and perhaps monthly. so, if TIM HULL thinks that $500 is low, why he's not making an arragement so he can pay the fee too just for using the tribe to write news about them?

 

[dangue]

Isn't the Hopi reservation covered by OTARD?

Doubtful since tribes are considered sovereign nations. I wish I knew more about federal Indian law so that I could competently comment on the tribe's initial suit and Dish's counter suit.