司法部要求驳回Ligado约500亿美元诉讼：称频谱许可不附财产权，政府占用无需补偿
美国司法部上周再次要求联邦索赔法院驳回卫星运营商 Ligado Networks 约500亿美元的征收索赔诉讼。据宽带行业媒体 Broadband Breakfast 10月29日报道，司法部于10月28日（周三）晚提交动议，主张联邦通信委员会（FCC）发放的频谱许可并不附带受宪法保护的财产权，因此政府占用相关频段无需向持证人支付补偿，法院对本案不具管辖权。
司法部民事司助理司法部长 Brett Shumate 在动议中写道：「Ligado 无法证明《通信法》赋予其排除非 FCC 联邦机构使用其 ATC 许可所覆盖频谱的权利。」Ligado 则指控，国防部的秘密系统长期阻碍其使用 FCC 于2020年发放的 L 波段地面无线许可。公司今年9月提交新诉状，把索赔额从最初的390亿美元上调至约500亿美元，理由包括通胀与损失扩大；其首席执行官 Doug Smith 发表声明说，政府的动议等于主张「一张价值数十亿美元的 FCC 频谱许可可以被联邦政府无偿拿走」，公司将有力抗辩。据 Advanced Television 11月2日报道，法院要求 Ligado 在12月7日前作出回应。
本案2023年起诉至联邦索赔法院。联邦巡回上诉法院今年3月将案件发回索赔法院补充审理，称现有材料不足以就 Ligado 是否对国防部握有财产权作出确信裁断；双方今年早些时候一度接近和解，但谈判没有推进。
案件的意义超出 Ligado 一家：自1994年 FCC 开始频谱拍卖以来，美国无线运营商已为频谱支付超过2,300亿美元。若法院接受司法部「许可不附财产权」的主张，所有持证运营商原本假定存在的宪法补偿保障都将被改写。案件后续还可能上诉至联邦巡回上诉法院乃至最高法院。案情与动议报道见Broadband Breakfast：司法部要求法官驳回 Ligado 征收案（英文）。
Justice Department Asks Court to Dismiss Ligado's $50 Billion Lawsuit: Spectrum Licenses Carry No Property Rights
The U.S. Department of Justice has again asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to dismiss satellite operator Ligado Networks' roughly $50 billion takings lawsuit. According to Broadband Breakfast's October 29 report, the department argued in a motion filed late Wednesday, October 28, that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spectrum license carries no constitutionally protected property rights, so the government does not have to compensate licensees for occupying their airwaves, and the court lacks jurisdiction over the claim.
"Ligado cannot establish that the Communications Act provides it with the right to exclude non-FCC federal agencies from the spectrum covered by its ATC license," Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Division, wrote in the filing. Ligado alleges that secret Defense Department systems have blocked it from using the L-band terrestrial license the FCC granted in 2020. In a new complaint filed in September, the company raised its damages estimate from the original $39 billion to about $50 billion, citing inflation and expanded losses. "The government's motion to dismiss argues that an FCC spectrum license, even one worth billions of dollars, can be taken by the federal government without any compensation," Ligado CEO Doug Smith said in a statement, pledging a vigorous opposition. Advanced Television reported on November 2 that the court wants Ligado's response by December 7.
Ligado first sued in the Court of Federal Claims in 2023. In March, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sent the case back for more briefing, saying it lacked enough information to rule confidently on whether Ligado holds a property right against the Defense Department. The two sides had reportedly neared a settlement earlier this year, but talks did not advance.
The case's implications reach beyond one company: wireless carriers have spent more than $230 billion on FCC spectrum auctions since competitive bidding began in 1994. If the court accepts the Justice Department's no-property-rights argument, the constitutional compensation safety net carriers assumed came with their licenses would be rewritten. A dismissal would likely bring another appeal to the Federal Circuit, with Supreme Court review potentially to follow. Coverage of the filing is at Broadband Breakfast: DOJ Asks Judge to Toss Ligado Takings Case.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：美国国家航空航天局（NASA）下一代通信卫星发射升空（资料图）。NASA 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A NASA next-generation communications satellite launch (file photo). Photo by NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
