Ed Hare was understandably confused recently because he was congratulated by Mitch Lazarus for the BPL decision and told that the Court had issued its Mandate (which it did on June 13), the import of which Ed didn't understand, and which Mitch didn't explain to him.
In case you are asked, here is where the BPL Court decision stands now:
The decision was released April 25, 2008.
FCC had 45 days from the entry of judgment (i.e. until June 9, 2008) to file a Petition for Rehearing En Banc, asking the Court of Appeals, in effect, to review the three-judge panel's decision. FCC did not do that (we did not expect them to) so, the Court of Appeals is of the view that the decision is final from their perspective. Once the Court of Appeals decision is final, the Court issues its Mandate, meaning that the decision is binding on the FCC and is no longer subject to appeal within the Court of Appeals.
HOWEVER, the Court's decision is not actually completely final, because the FCC could, if it wanted to, file a Petition for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on or before July 24, 2008 asking the Court to agree to hear the case. That is not expected, but it is still possible.
Dave, Joel and I are meeting with OET on July 9, to discuss regulatory options post-remand. That meeting would not likely have been scheduled unless the FCC had already decided not to file a cert petition with the Supreme Court. We will have more information for you about this matter prior to the Board Meeting, but after the July 9 OET meeting.
73, Chris W3KD
Christopher D. Imlay
BOOTH, FRERET, IMLAY & TEPPER, P.C.
14356 Cape May Road
Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011
(301) 384-5525 telephone
(301) 384-6384 facsimile
W3KD@ARRL.ORG