On things Courtly.

[jsbowden]

So, I just read the 59 page decision handed down yesterday by the Ultimate Fighting Jurists! (which can be found at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/04-277.pdf conveniently enough), and I find myself agreeing with Scalia in his dissent. I love the pizza delivery analogy he used.

I'm just curious, how is it that my cable company isn't a telecommunications carrier, since they carry both my voice and data communications? Seriously, my local phone service is provided by Cox, but they aren't a phone company if you ask the court and the FCC.

EDIT: They offer it on their own physical plant, unlike resellers (CLECs), which fall into their own class. Cable companies are also locally regulated monopolies, and the physical plant is running on municipal rights of way. In the event the local municipality decides to award the monopoly rights to another provider, that plant is left behind and inherited by the incoming provider (the plant is owned by the cableco, and the incoming carrier pays the exiting carrier for the plant normally, but in some areas the plant is actually owned by the municipality).

It's fascinating reading, and I also liked Scalia's interpretation of the long term results of yesterday's decision and his blatantly arrogant attitude that the rulings of lower federal district courts aren't binding on him. He's right of course, being a Supreme Justice and all.

I'm not sure what rock I should go hide under, since the world evidently is about to end as shown by my agreeing with Justice Scalia.

Comments

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

Damn--I'll have to read this one, too. But right now, I've got 150 pages of 10 Commandments opinions to read.

For future reference, agreeing with Scalia means one of two things:

1) It's one of the uncommon, but not unheard of, occasions where he is right. From what I've heard, this might be one of those. They tend to be cases where the issue is one of statutory interpretation, not Constitutional law.

2) You miseed his trick. He's a very compelling writer, but when he's wrong and seems to be right, it's usually because he has a very cleverly hidden assumption that turns everything on its side.

[turnberryknkn.livejournal.com]

You know, it's times like this that I'm profoundly grateful I don't have to spend my entire career having to try to think my way through stuff like this, and glad there's very smart folks like you willing to do it for the rest of us...

[carpone.livejournal.com]

I wonder how long it's going to take "telco" providers to adopt VoIP in place of POTS and say "fuck you, we're an information service now".