§ 1.2205   Prohibition of certain communications.

   Link to an amendment published at  80 FR 56809 , September 18, 2015.

   (a)  Definitions.  (1)  For the purposes of this section, a full power
   broadcast television licensee, or a Class A broadcast television licensee,
   shall include all controlling interests in the licensee, and all officers,
   directors, and governing board members of the licensee.

   (2) For the purposes of this section, the term forward auction applicant is
   defined the same as the term applicant is defined in § 1.2105(c)(7).

   (b) Certain communications prohibited. (1) Except as provided in paragraph
   (b)(2) of this section, in the broadcast television spectrum incentive
   auction conducted under section 6403 of the Spectrum Act, beginning on the
   deadline for submitting applications to participate in the reverse auction
   and until the results of the incentive auction are announced by public
   notice,  all full power and Class A broadcast television licensees are
   prohibited from communicating directly or indirectly any incentive auction
   applicant's bids or bidding strategies to any other full power or Class A
   broadcast television licensee or to any forward auction applicant.

   (2) The prohibition described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section does not
   apply to the following:

   (i)  Communications between full power or Class A broadcast television
   licensees if they share a common controlling interest, director, officer, or
   governing board member as of the deadline for submitting applications to
   participate in the reverse auction;

   (ii) Communications between a forward auction applicant and a full power or
   Class A broadcast television licensee if a controlling interest, director,
   officer, or holder of any 10 percent or greater ownership interest in the
   forward auction applicant, as of the deadline for submitting short-form
   applications to participate in the forward auction, is also a controlling
   interest, director, officer, or governing board member of the full power or
   Class A broadcast television licensee, as of the deadline for submitting
   applications to participate in the reverse auction; and

   (iii) Communications regarding reverse auction applicants' (but not forward
   auction  applicants') bids and bidding strategies between parties to a
   channel sharing agreement executed prior to the deadline for submitting
   applications  to participate in the reverse auction and disclosed on a
   reverse auction application.

   (c) Duty to report potentially prohibited communications. A party that makes
   or receives a communication prohibited under paragraph (b) of this section
   shall report such communication in writing immediately, and in any case no
   later than five business days after the communication occurs. A party's
   obligation to make such a report continues until the report has been made.

   (d) Procedures for reporting potentially prohibited communications. Reports
   under paragraph (c) of this section shall be filed as directed in public
   notices detailing procedures for bidding in the incentive auction. If no
   public notice provides direction, the party making the report shall do so in
   writing to the Chief of the Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, Wireless
   Telecommunications  Bureau,  by  the most expeditious means available,
   including electronic transmission such as email.

   (e) Violations. A party who is found to have violated the antitrust laws or
   the  Commission's  rules  in  connection with its participation in the
   competitive bidding process, in addition to any other applicable sanctions,
   may  be subject to forfeiture of its winning bid incentive payment and
   revocation of its licenses, where applicable, and may be prohibited from
   participating in future auctions.

   Note  1  to  § 1.2205:  References  to “full power broadcast television
   licensees” and “Class A broadcast television licensees” are intended to
   include all broadcast television licensees that are or could become eligible
   to  participate in the reverse auction, including broadcast television
   licensees that may be parties to a channel sharing agreement.

   Note  2  to  § 1.2205:  For  the purposes of this section, “controlling
   interests” include individuals or entities with positive or negative de jure
   or de facto control of the licensee. De jure control includes holding 50
   percent or more of the voting stock of a corporation or holding a general
   partnership interest in a partnership. Ownership interests that are held
   indirectly by any party through one or more intervening corporations may be
   determined by successive multiplication of the ownership percentages for
   each link in the vertical ownership chain and application of the relevant
   attribution benchmark to the resulting product, except that if the ownership
   percentage for an interest in any link in the chain meets or exceeds 50
   percent or represents actual control, it may be treated as if it were a 100
   percent interest. De facto control is determined on a case-by-case basis.
   Examples of de facto control include constituting or appointing 50 percent
   or more of the board of directors or management committee; having authority
   to appoint, promote, demote, and fire senior executives that control the
   day-to-day  activities of the licensee; or playing an integral role in
   management decisions.

   Note 3 to § 1.2205: The prohibition described in § 1.2205(b)(1) applies to
   controlling interests, officers, directors, and governing board members of a
   full power or Class A broadcast television licensee as of the deadline for
   submitting applications to participate in the reverse auction, and any
   additional such parties at any subsequent point prior to the announcement by
   public  notice  of the results of the incentive auction. Thus, if, for
   example, a full power or Class A broadcast television licensee appoints a
   new  officer after the application deadline, that new officer would be
   subject to the prohibition in § 1.2205(b)(1), but would not be included
   within the exceptions described in § § 1.2205(b)(2)(i) and (ii).

   Effective Date Note: At  79 FR 48530 , Aug. 15, 2014, § 1.2205 was added.
   Paragraphs (c) and (d) contain information collection and recordkeeping
   requirements and will not become effective until approval has been given by
   the Office of Management and Budget.

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