Judicial Review. American Message Centers (AMC) provides answering services to re-tailers. Calls to a retailer are automatically forwarded to AMC, which pays for the calls. AMC ob-tains telephone service at a discount from major carriers, including

Sprint. Sprint's tariff (a public document setting out rates and rules relating to Sprint's services) states that the "subscriber shall be responsible for the payment of all charges for service." When AMC learned that computer hackers had obtained the access code for its lines and had made nearly $160,000 worth of long-distance calls, it asked Sprint to absorb the cost. Sprint refused. AMC filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claiming in part that Sprint's tariff was vague and ambiguous, in violation of the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules. These laws require that a carrier's tariff "clearly and definitely" specify any "exceptions or conditions which in any way affect the rates named in the tariff." The FCC rejected AMC's complaint. AMC appealed the FCC's decision to a federal appellate court, claiming that the FCC's decision to reject AMC's complaint was arbitrary and capricious. What should the court decide? Discuss fully.


Judicial review
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the FCC's decision was not arbitrary or capricious. "On its face, Sprint's tariff establishes a general obligation to pay ‘all charges for service provided.' This is ‘clear' and ‘definite.' " If a call goes through, the customer has to pay for it. AMC argued that only a tariff stating subscribers are responsible for all charges, including charges for toll fraud, would be sufficiently clear and definite to allow a carrier to charge consumers for unauthorized calls." The court found nothing in the Communications Act of 1934 or the FCC's rules that compelled such a rigid requirement. "While carriers must identify any exceptions or conditions affecting their tariffs, charging subscribers for unauthorized but completed calls is not an exception or condition to Sprint's general payment obligation. Instead, it falls under the general rule that the customer pays for all completed calls."

Business

You might also like to view...

A true voucher system requires that all expenditures for whatever purpose and in excess of a certain dollar amount be formally approved for payment before they can be paid

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Business

The Robinson-Patman Act prohibits sales at unreasonably low prices

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Business

Sub queries are secondary queries in the body of the main query

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Business

A class level attribute applies to all instances of a class

a. True b. False Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Business