Attachment DIRECTV - Confidenti

DIRECTV - Confidenti

REQUEST submitted by DIRECTV

Request for Confidential Treatment

2014-06-27

This document pretains to SAT-AMD-20120420-00071 for Amended Filing on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATAMD2012042000071_1054695

H WG                      HARRIS, WILTSHIRE                                   [~~~~~Non—pusuic——_
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                                                           CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED



                                                June 27, 2014                                  ACCEPTED/FILED

                                                                                                  N 27 2014
      BY HAND DELIVERY                                                                      eral Communic
                                                                                                  .      ation$   Co        &
                                                                                                ffice of the Serrelyr';/?mfssmn
      Marlene H. Dortch
      Secretary
      Federal Communications Commission
      445 Twelfth Street, S.W.
      Washington, DC 20554

                 Re:   DIRECTY Enterprises, LLC
                       IBFS File Nos. SAT—LOA—20120316—00051 and SAT—AMD—20120420—
                       00071 (Call Sign $2861)

      Dear Ms. Dortch:

              Pursuant to Section 25.164(d) of the Commission‘s rules and Paragraph 6b of the
      authorization issued in the above referenced proceedings,‘ DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC
      ("DIRECTV") hereby submits a non—redacted copy of the package ("CDR Package")
      prepared as a result of the critical design review performed pursuant the contract for
      construction of the DIRECTV KU—79W satellite by Orbital Sciences Corporation
      ("OSC") in electronic form. DIRECTV respectfully requests that, pursuant to Sections
      0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission‘s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.457 and 0.459, the
      Commission withhold from public inspection and accord confidential treatment to the
      CDR Package, submitted for the International Bureau‘s consideration in connection with
      DIRECTV‘s demonstration of milestone compliance. These materials contain sensitive
      trade secrets, and commercial and financial information that fall within Exemption 4 of
      the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”).2

              Exemption 4 of FOIA provides that the public disclosure requirement of the
      statute "does not apply to matters that are . . . (4) trade secrets and commercial or
      financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential."" DIRECTV


          See Stamp Grant, IBFS File Nos. SAT—LOA—20120316—00051 and SAT—AMD—20120420—00071,
          Condition 6b (granted July 12, 2012). See also 47 C.F.R. §25.164(d).

      *   5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4).

      ‘   1Id.



1200 18TH STREET NW | SUITE 1200 | WASHINGTON DC 20036 | TEL 202 730 1300 | FAX 202 7301301 | HARRISWILTSHIRE.COM


 HARRIS, WILTSHIRE & GRANNIS LLP

 Marlene H. Dortch
 June 27, 2014
 Page 2 of 5

 is voluntarily providing this trade secret and commercial and financial information "of a
 kind that would not customarily be released to the public" in order to demonstrate
 compliance with a regulatory requirement; therefore, this information is "confidential"
 under Exemption 4 of FOIA.* Moreover, DIRECTV would suffer substantial
 competitive harm if the CDR Package were disclosed."

         In support of this request and pursuant to Section 0.459(b) of the Commission‘s
 rules,° DIRECTV hereby states as follows:

 1.       IDENTIFICATION OF THE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR WHICH CONFIDENTIAL
          TREATMENT Is SoucHut‘

          DIRECTV seeks confidential treatment of the entire CDR Package. These
materials reflect key technological attributes of the satellite and therefore should be treated
in their entirety as a trade secret. In the context of FOIA, a trade secret is defined as "as
secret, commercially valuable plan, formula, process, or device that is used for the
making, preparing, compounding, or processing of trade commodities and that can be said
to be the end product of either innovation or substantial effort."® The CDR Package
reflects a thorough evaluation of the design of a state—of—the—art satellite, including the
proprietary technology embodied therein.

 2.       DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES GIvING RisE To THE SuBMiISsION®


       DIRECTV is submitting the CDR Package to the Commission as required by rule
and by licensing condition in order to demonstrate compliance with the second
performance milestone, which would also result in reduction of DIRECTV‘s performance
bond.




*     See Critical Mass Energy Project v. NRC, 975 F.2d 871, 879 (D.C. Cir. 1992).

5     See National Parks and Conservation Ass‘n v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir. 1974).

6     47 CFR. § 0.459(b).

47 CFR. § 0.459(b)(1).

8     Public Citizen Health Research Group v. FDA, 704 F.2d 1280, 1288 (D.C. Cir. 1983); see
      also AT&T Information Systems, Inc. v. GSA, 627 F. Supp. 1396, 1401 n.9 (D.D.C. 1986).

°0    47 CFR. §0459(b)(@).


HARRIS, WILTSHIRE & GRANNIS LLP


Marlene H. Dortch
June 27, 2014
Page 3 of 5

3.       EXPLANATION OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INFORMATION Is COMMERCIAL
         OR FINANCIAL, OR CONTAINS A TRADE SECRET OR Is PrivilLEcEp"

         The CDR Package contains highly sensitive, confidential, and proprietary
commercial and technical information, including trade secrets regarding the construction
of satellite spacecraft. DIRECTV and OSC treat such information as highly confidential
and do not disclose it to third parties. As such, the information qualifies as material that
"*would customarily be guarded from competitors.""‘ The information contained in the
CDR Package would not customarily be released by the persons from whom they are
obtained and are therefore covered by Exemption 4 of FOIA when, as here, it is
submitted by such persons to the Government.

4.       EXPLANATION OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INFORMATION CONCERNS A
         SERvICE THAT Is SUBJECT TO COMPETITION®‘

       Confidential information in the CDR Package concerns highly competitive
markets in which both DIRECTV and OSC participate. The CDR Package contains trade
secrets and confidential information that is commercially sensitive within the satellite
manufacturing industry. The satellite manufacturing industry is extremely competitive,
with the current global supply of satellite manufacturing capacity greatly exceeding the
actual demand for satellite construction services. Similarly, DIRECTV competes in the
MVPD marketplace and faces competition from terrestrial and satellite MVPD
competitors. U.S. DBS competitors to DIRECTV with deployed U.S. DBS systems
include DISH Network, and a number of foreign DBS systems have sought or may seek
access to U.S. consumers, which will further increase competition to DIRECTV."

5.       EXxXPLANATION OF How DISCLOSURE OF THE INFORMATION COULD REsuLt In
         SUBSTANTIAL COMPETITIVE Harm"*

         OSC is a major manufacturer of satellite and aerospace systems. OSC maintains a
competitive edge vis—a—vis other satellite manufactures by offering customers the benefits
of its experience and expert technical design capability. OSC also competes in the highly
competitive satellite manufacturing market based on the cost advantages of its economies

9 47 C.FR. § 0.459(b)(3).

U    47 C.F.R. §0.457.

2    47 CFER. §0.459(b)(4).

5 See, eg., Spectrum Five LLC, 21 FCC Red. 14023 (Int‘l Bur. 2006) (granting authority to
     provide DBS service in the U.S. from satellites licensed by the Netherlands).

* 47 C.FR. § 0.459(b)(5).


HARRIS, WILTSHIRE & GRANNIS LLP

Marlene H. Dortch
June 27, 2014
Page 4 of 5

of scale. Release of the technical and other information contained in the CDR Package
could compromise OSC‘s competitive edge in the satellite manufacturing market,
resulting in substantial competitive harm to OSC. Similarly, this information would
enable DIRECTV‘s competitors to unfairly benefit from the time and resources that
DIRECTV has expended in designing, negotiating for, and evaluating construction of
advanced satellites.

6.     IDENTIFICATION OF Any MgasurREsS TaAKEN By THE SUBMITTING PARTY TO
       PreveEnt UnaUTHORIZED Discuosure"

        DIRECTV and OSC do not permit the dissemination of the CDR Package to non—
employees without the execution of a confidentiality agreement. Furthermore, OSC
requires its satellite customers to request confidential treatment as a part of any
submission of a satellite construction CDR Package to government agencies, such as the
Commission. In addition, the CDR Package may contain technical data potentially
subject to the U.S. Government‘s International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR*")."°
As such, its dissemination to non—U.S. citizens or companies without prior approval may
be a violation of federal law.

7.     IDENTIFICATION OF WHETHER THE INFORMATION ISs AVAILABLE TO THE
       PUBLIC AND THE ExTENT OF Any PrREvIOUS DISCLOSURE OF THE
       INFORMATION To THiRD ParTiES!""

        The CDR Package is not available to the public and, to the best of DIRECTYV‘s
knowledge, has not been disseminated to non—DIRECTV or non—OSC personnel without
the execution of a confidentiality agreement. Accordingly, DIRECTV requests that the
Commission accord the information covered by this Request confidential treatment under
Sections 0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission‘s rules.

8.     JUSTIFICATION OF THE PERIOD DURING WHICH THE SUBMITTING PARTY
       AssERTS THAT MATERIAL SHoOUuLD NoT BE AVAILABLE FoRr PUBLIC
       Discrosure"*
         DIRECTV requests that the CDR Package be withheld from public disclosure for
at least five years. Release of this information prior to that time would cause substantial
competitive harm to DIRECTV and OSC. This period matches the nondisclosure
commitment of the parties to the agreement,"" which is market evidence of the time
period necessary to protect the confidentiality of competitively sensitive proprietary


5 47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(6).

6 See 22 CF.R. § 120.10.

47 CFR. § 0.459(b)(7).


HARRIS, WILTSHIRE & GRANNIS LLP

Marlene H. Dortch
June 27, 2014
Page 5 of 5

information contained therein. Therefore, DIRECTV‘s request for ongoing confidential
treatment is reasonable.



        For the foregoing reasons, DIRECTV respectfully requests that the CDR Package
be granted confidential status and be withheld from public inspection. If confidential
treatment is not granted for all or any part of this confidential material, DIRECTV
requests that all copies of the CDR Package be returned to DIRECTV.

        If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact undersigned counsel.

                                                Respectfully submitted,




                                                William M. Wiltshire
                                                Counselfor DIRECTY Enterprises, LLC


Enclosures




8 47 CFR. § 0.459(b)(8).

*   See OSC Contract at Article 20.1 (Proprietary Information).



Document Created: 2014-07-22 16:14:19
Document Modified: 2014-07-22 16:14:19

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