FCC Tells Court, BIU Fight Is a Private Contractual Dispute

Financier BIU can't show any FCC error in how the agency handled a private contractual dispute between BIU and satellite company Spectrum Five, the respondent commission said Thursday as it urged denial of BIU's petition for review (see 2409100005). In a docket 24-1189 brief Wednesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC said its Enforcement Bureau's denial of BIU's request that the agency reopen Spectrum Five's complaint against Intelsat was in line with the agency's "long-standing practice of non-involvement in private contractual disputes." The FCC said BIU has given no reason why it can't pursue its contract claims in state court, which is the proper forum. The commission said that while BIU alleges that Spectrum Five's Intelsat complaint was withdrawn due to fraud, the fraud allegations "hinge on the contested interpretation of loan agreements that the Commission properly refrained from resolving."