ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 8, Number 79
August 3, 1999

In this issue:

U.S. Fifth Circuit Upholds E-rate

On July 30 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reached 
a decision that is a victory for the E-rate and removes a critical 
threat to telecommunications discounts for libraries and K-12 
schools.  The lawsuit, Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel vs. 
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), challenged the FCC's 
implementation of the Universal Service provisions of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996. 

The Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), of which 
ALA is a member, intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the FCC.  
EdLiNC was represented by Matthew C. Ames, of the Washington, 
D.C.-based law firm Miller & Van Eaton, P.L.L.C.  His preliminary 
analysis of the Courts findings contained the following six 
points:

1. The obligation of carriers to contribute to the universal 
service fund is not an unconstitutional tax.

2. The FCC was permitted to include Internet access and internal 
connection in the discount program.

3. The FCC has the authority to permit non-telecomm carriers to 
receive payments out of the universal service fund if they provide 
services eligible for discounts.

4. The FCC is permitted to use the federal universal service fund 
to support intrastate services.

5. Under a previous court decision, the FCC is permitted to make 
"all commercially available services" eligible for discounts.

6. The FCC was not upheld in its decision to include intrastate 
revenue in the base for calculating a carrier's contributions, so 
to raise the same amount of money, the FCC would have to require 
carriers to contribute a greater share of interstate revenues.

The text of the Fifth Circuit's decision can be found at
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/97/97-60421-cv0.htm

ALAWON will continue to analyze and report on this landmark 
decision.

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ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, 
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Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors:  Sally Benson, Mary 
Costabile, Carol Henderson, Peter Kaplan, Carrie Russell, Saundra 
Shirley, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.