FCC Record, Volume 27, No. 7, Pages 5674 to 6652, May 23 - June 15, 2012 Page: 5,678

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Commission's rules and policies and that it will not routinely review contracts submitted with assignment
of license applications.7 Parties have also been on notice since 1998 that reliance on a prior Commission
action with respect to a contract term or rule interpretation "would be appropriate only where a decision
disposing of the prior application plainly considered and found acceptable the pertinent contract term or
rule interpretation.'" In their response to the Bureau's Letter of Inquiry, USF and CPRN pointed out a
number of instances in which parties submitted agreements with terms similar to the payment terms of the
PSOA, and contended that they relied on those submissions in certifying their compliance with the
Commission's Rules and policies. However, USF and CPRN did not point out any instance in which the
Bureau or the Commission issued a decision in which it considered and found such payment terms to be
compliant with Section 73.503(c) of the Rules, because no such decision exists. In light of the foregoing,
the Bureau finds that the terms of the PSOA as originally submitted violated Section 73.503(c) and that
the certifications by USF and CPRN that the PSOA complied with the Commission's Rules and policies
were incorrect. The Bureau does not, however, find that USF or CPRN made misrepresentations or
lacked candor.
6. Because of the compliance issues identified in the Bureau's investigation, the Parties
have agreed to enter into this Consent Decree to which USF, CPRN, and the Bureau intend to be legally
bound.
IV. Agreement
7. The Parties acknowledge that any proceeding that might result from the Violations would
be time-consuming and require a substantial expenditure of public and private resources. In order to
conserve such resources, to resolve the matter, the Parties are entering into this Consent Decree, in
consideration of the mutual commitments made herein.
8. The Parties agree to be legally bound by the terms and conditions of this Consent Decree.
Each of USF, CPRN, and the Bureau represent and warrant that its signatory is duly authorized to enter
into this Consent Decree on its behalf. USF and CPRN agree that the Bureau has jurisdiction over the
matters contained in this Consent Decree and the authority to enter into and adopt this Consent Decree.
9. The Parties agree and acknowledge that this Consent Decree shall constitute a final
settlement between USF, CPRN, and the Bureau concerning the Violations, as discussed herein.
10. In express reliance on the covenants and representations in this Consent Decree and to
avoid further expenditure of public resources, the Bureau agrees to terminate its Investigation into the
Violations. The Bureau further agrees that, in the absence of new material evidence, it will not use the
facts developed in the Investigation through the Effective Date of this Consent Decree, or the existence of
this Consent Decree, to institute any new proceeding, formal or informal, or take any action on its own
motion against USF or CPRN concerning the matters that were the subject of the Investigation. The
Bureau also agrees that it will not use the facts developed in the Investigation through the Effective Date
of this Consent Decree, or the existence of this Consent Decree, to institute any proceeding, formal or
informal, or take any action against USF or CPRN with respect to either party's basic qualifications,
including character qualifications, to be a licensee. In the event that either USF or CPRN fails to satisfy
any of its obligations under this Consent Decree, however, USF and CPRN each acknowledges that the
Bureau may take any enforcement action available pursuant to the Act and the Rules with respect to each
7See 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review - Streamlining of Mass Media Applications, Report and Order, 1 3 FCC Red
23056, 23074-6 (1998).
1 d., 13 FCC Red at 23076.

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