Sirius/XM top brass met with FCC Commissioner

Thanks Ryan for looking into this!
I have to thank jmm232 for bringing it to my attention.
I hope this is finally coming to an end.
Good luck to all!
Len

Take a gun next time Mel.

Hey... that picture of Nate is at least twenty years old.... that Cat is no spring Chicken. Comeon Nate... come to Jesus with a new picture.

Not a pretty man Mel is

Big Guns meet with Tate. To put out Fires or seal the Deal?

CNBC just said we could see $142 oil today! My two subs are the next luxury item to go. I'm sorry guys. I just have to cut back somewhere very, very soon! And the $26 saved might give me a quarter of a tank of gas!

WORD!!! Gas prices are fuckin ridicous, but I still hate AM/FM more!!
Thank God for my lifetime subs!!!!!!! Bring them back!

"XM, Sirius: We're Not Required To Make Interoperable Receivers"

"The NAB Coalition, says the letter, claims the applicable rules required XM and Sirius to produce and market an interoperable radio, when in fact the rules required only that the companies develop designs for such a radio -- a requirement they fully met. The letter continues, The [FCC] left the decision to manufacture, import, distribute, deploy, market, and sell interoperable receivers to the private sector."

http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=142474&pt=todaysnews

If the FCC decided to force HD Radio into Satrad interoperable receivers, they would be too complex and expensive - these receivers would fail in the marketplace.

Is it Nate instead of Parsons because he is black? Or are they past all that Georgetown stuff?

Mel and Nate were there to get the early word of NO! to "merge" MONOPOLY

PS

The FCC has/had a "prohibition" on two satellite-radio companies "ever merging" and its mandate that XM and Sirius produce interoperable radios. You see the disreguard for the "merge" rule AND xm and Sirius still continue to refuse to comply with an FCC requirement to manufacture consumer-friendly interoperable radios. Now Mel's dishonesty with congress is yet another layer of FRAUD.

GUILTY
NO! to "merge"
but instead HEAVY FINES

Martin himself said the rule or law about having 2 licenses could be changed. This was stated publicly and antagonized Sirius and XM to announce their intent to merge. The Department of Justice approved with no restrictions. Sirius/XM have given Martin what he wanted (ala cart & price freeze for 3 years) plus I'm sure they are giving other concessions regarding bandwidth for minority and special interest bullshit. It's 99% there and can't imagine it would get rejected after all this dragging out for 1 1/2 years. Just 3 weeks to go for the answer we know is coming.

" Just 3 weeks to go for the answer we know is coming."

GUILTY

and

NO! to "merge" and HEAVY FINES on top of that.

Can someone tell the NAB surrogate that interoperable radios already exist in the market? I know he lives in here, so he doesn't know these things.

Someone make sure to change his newspapers and leave him some food and water.

Joe/jmm232,

Apparently you forgot to LEARN interoperable radios are NOT already on the market, and NEVER have been. "There are head units which can receive XM, Sirius, HD Radio, and have an IPod jack." Your so confused and desperate.... I have a 1970's receiver with a aux and a phono input too would you would consider that to be a interoperable radio too?

The interoperable radios the FCC mandated (and Sirius and xm agreed to) would be one satradio that was able to tune in both Sirius and xm on the same satradio device.

The blind, ignorant satradio fanboys here try to top each other with each post showing more ignorance than the last.

No "NAB surrogate"(s) here, they all left long ago after finding out Orbitcast has sadly turned into a blind, ignorant, satradio fanboy forum.

Plowboy;

Your arguments would have more weight if you didn't get caught making shit up so often. The photo of Nate Davis is clearly taken in the XM performance studio, which was built in 2001...the picture can't be more than 7 years old, and it's probably only a couple years old at the most....since he has been on the payroll.

Anonymous Coward,
If you had done your homework you would know that the FCC only mandated that Sirius and XM develop an interoperable radio, which they did. I also believe that interoperable radios are presently in the market place. Why do you think C3SR and Senator Brownback what the information in the Highly Confidential documents made public? The interoperable radios are out there, but there is no incentive for the companies to enable this feature unless they merge.

The following paragraphs are from the C3SR FCC filing.
This filing is unfortunately redacted because it references "Highly
Confidential" documents filed by Sirius and XM. However, if you read
this document I believe it confirms my beliefs that some of today's
receivers are capable of receiving both Sirius and XM programming.

For instance, the filing states, "Both Sirius and XM had approximately
seven full years preceding the filing of the Merger Applications to
bring interoperable receivers to market. During that period, both
failed to disclose...(REDACTED) (I think it is logical that the next few words which were redacted were something to the effect of "that current radios are capable of interoperability." It certainly would not state that Sirius and XM found it was impossible to produce an interoperable radio. What else could it be?)

Later, the filing quotes a letter issued jointly from Sirius and XM
responding to a request about their progress on an interoperable
radio. The filing states, "In the Joint Letter, the Merger Parties
discussed the status of their interoperable technology by stating that
at a "minimum" a "prototype" interoperable receiver would be developed
in 2005. In fact, it appears that the Merger Parties lacked candor
because...(REDACTED) (What? They didn't produce one at all. I really doubt that. I believe that radios, starting or developed around the time of the S50 are interoperable. You will notice how the words "minimum" and "prototype" are in quotations and Karmazin is only being accused of giving misleading testimony. He never stated the radios were not in the market place, only that at a "minimum" a "prototype" interoperable receiver would be developed in 2005.)

The filing continues by stating, "C3SR can only speculate as to the
motive that Sirius and XM had in 2005 for failing to provide full
information. By the time of the merger announcement in 2007, however,
it was apparent that the companies wanted to CLAIM interoperability as
a merger-specific benefit, and thus continue to withhold information.
In this proceeding, the Merger Parties stated, "[i]n short, the
proposed merger will eliminate the final barriers to the commercial
availability of an interoperable radio. Again, this is the very
definition of a merger-specific benefit and claims to the contrary
fall flat."

The filing also stated, (Redacted)... "That Sirius and XM chose not
to reveal this information to the Commission raises a material issue
of fact with regard to this merger. The Commission should investigate
the apparent lack of candor."

The filing also has a section titled, "Contradictions Between Highly
Confidential Documents and Congressional Testimony"

Under this section the filing states, "In oral testimony before the
House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force on February 28. 2007;
the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on March
7, 2007; and the Senate Commerce Committee on April 17, 2007, the
Sirius CEO provided a number of justifications for the Merger Parties'
failure to make interoperable radios commercially available. In one
hearing, he justified the need to keep all 25 MHz of SDARS spectrum
until at least 2017 because of the lack of interoperable satellite
radio receivers. Significant parts of the testimony given are
inconsistent with the Highly Confidential Documents submitted to the
FCC on April 10, 2008, as detailed in Exhibit 1, attached hereto."

The entire filing references the subject of interoperable radios and
Sirius and XM's "lack of candor." I believe Sirius and XM's, along
with Mel Karmazin's history of vague statements towards interoperable
radios also lends credibility to my belief.

I have written several posts on this topic and there always seems to
be people that will not believe that there are interoperable radios
currently in the market place. If this does not convince you, just
wait until after the merger and see for yourselves.

Tristan28,

that was a long post, kinda interesting...... Post a link to these interoperable radios which you believe "are presently in the market place." However "I believe" only goes so far, there must be some smart people who could verify this no? Why would they claim they "need to keep all 25 MHz of SDARS spectrum until at least 2017 because of the lack of interoperable satellite radio receivers."? Though you might also find some more fuel for your belief with the "Sirius Guarantee." (The guarantee clearly states that no Sirius radios will become obsolete as a result of a merger with XM.) Not sure the FCC only meant to design and not implement these interoperable radios. IF Interoperable Technologies was truly a joint effort wouldn't Sirius and xm be smart enough to use the technology to making more money and gaining more subs? I mean management from Sirius and xm are proven idiots but when it comes to making money and gaining subs, it doesn't make any sense why they wouldn't use their joint technology.

Tonight, I bought 75.00 of gas (after being cut off) got back in my car and thought, "gee - let's see, that would be how many month subscriptions for xm/siri? 5 months (20 Weeks)?

and then I realized, the gas only gets me - 1 week of transportation!!!!!

OK, now multiply 75 bucks x (20 weeks) = 1,500.00 (FOR A SUBSCRIPTION TO EXXON/MOBILE ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !)

I am sooooooooooo glad that they are looking out for us!!! This is B to the S.

"The interoperable radios the FCC mandated (and Sirius and xm agreed to) would be one satradio that was able to tune in both Sirius and xm on the same satradio device."

Yeah... and effectively paying for two subscriptions. If that's their demand, then it makes goddamn sense to merge since you'd be getting more for less!