Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (Denver, Colorado) announced its unanimous decision that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) speech restrictions on deaf issues violate the First Amendment and are arbitrary and capricious. The court emphasized that the FCC had not even “attempted” to justify how its restrictions could be constitutional under applicable case law.
The court also rejected the FCC’s theory regarding Video Relay Service (VRS) compensation, finding that “[t]he FCC has chosen to reward efficient providers by allowing them to retain the savings generated by providing TRS at a low cost. It does this by compensating providers regardless of their actual costs in providing TRS.” This methodology “give[s] providers an incentive to innovate and reduce costs. If a provider can deliver VRS at an actual cost lower than the FCC's estimated cost, it retains the difference.”
Pat Nola, President and CEO of Sorenson Communications, the leading provider of VRS for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who use sign language to communicate, said, “We are pleased that we will be able to continue to communicate on issues of interest and importance to the deaf community. Our goal is to make VRS, the technology currently providing the most functionally-equivalent telecommunications for the deaf, available to as many deaf people as possible. This decision will help us reach that goal.”
In its 3-0 decision, the Court of Appeals rejected two parts of the FCC’s 2007 decision and its 2008 clarification. The Court rejected the FCC’s restrictions on VRS providers communicating with deaf consumers and others on deaf issues, and rejected the FCC’s restrictions on using customer data to communicate with customers. The Court remanded the Declaratory Rulings to the FCC for further consideration consistent with its opinion.
About Sorenson Communications
Sorenson Communications® (www.sorenson.com) is a provider of industry-leading communications services and products. The company’s offerings include Sorenson Video Relay Service® (SVRS®), the highest-quality video interpreting service; the Sorenson (VP-100® and VP-200®) videophones; Sorenson IP Relay® (SIPRelay), enabling text-to-speech relay communication; and Sorenson Video Remote Interpreting™ (VRI), a fee-based remote interpreting service.
Contacts:
Sorenson Communications
Ann Bardsley, 801-287-9897
abardsley@sorenson.com