WASHINGTON- The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions’ fight to shut down and reclaim assets of a U.S. firm that assigns codes so foreigners can operate their mobile phones in the U.S. moved into the court room last week, putting into full view the inner workings of a major trade group and the activities of a lead defendant who has been a major figure in wireless technology standards.
ATIS wants U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake of Baltimore to issue a preliminary injunction against the International Forum on ANSI-41 Standards, or IFAST, which most recently was housed in ATIS. Blake, known in the wireless industry for having dismissed major health-related lawsuits, oversaw a hearing last Monday and Tuesday where lawyers from both sides cross-examined each other’s witnesses.
Oral argument in the case is scheduled this Thursday in U.S. District Court. Blake could rule from the bench on the lawsuit at that time.
Among the witnesses grilled last week were ATIS President Susan Miller, BellSouth Corp. Chief Technology Officer and ATIS Chairman of the Board William Smith and a key official from a competing industry standards association. Dan Bart, vice president of standards and special projects at the Telecommunications Industry Association, previously testified in support of Ed Hall and IFAST, asserting even a brief work stoppage at IFAST would disrupt international roaming.
ATIS claims Hall, a principal of IFAST and a former tech specialist at ATIS, TIA and cell-phone association CTIA, stole IFAST’s assets for himself and a handful of associates. Hall’s lawyers reply ATIS never had legal rights to IFAST, which makes money by collecting fees associated with distributing international roaming mobile (IRM) identification numbers.
According to the IFASTs Web site, there is a one-time application fee of $175 per IRM and an annual maintenance fee of $175 per IRM. Each IRM supports 1 million wireless subscribers. The IRM allows foreign travelers’ mobile phones-excluding GSM handsets-to operate on U.S. wireless networks based on AMPS, TDMA and CDMA standards.
The tone of the litigation has grown increasingly hostile in legal filings leading up to last week’s hearing, with ATIS’ lawyers recently accusing Hall of destroying evidence they consider important to the case.
“ATIS confirmed that prior to his departure from ATIS, Hall deleted e-mail files,” ATIS lawyers told Blake in a May 6 filing. “As a result, contemporaneous with the commencement of this action ATIS moved for an order compelling defendants to preserve relevant evidence.”
Hall has refuted the allegation.
ATIS says Hall and IFAST are deliberating trying to cloud the real issue.
“Incredibly, the defendants attempt to refute ATIS’ tortious interference claim by characterizing their misconduct as `entrepreneurial competition.’ But this case is not about competition,” ATIS told Blake in an April 29 filing. “Defendants did not seek to `compete’ with ATIS with respect to the issuance and renewal of IRMs. Instead, without even consulting industry members or obtaining the consent of IFAST members or participants, they simply notified all IRM subscribers that they, not ATIS, were the entity responsible for IRMs and for IFAST, and began invoicing the subscribers for costs using IRM billing data developed by ATIS.”
Hall and IFAST argue ATIS simply has a weak case.
“ATIS assumes that, because of its claimed stature within the telecommunications industry, its agreement to `sponsor’ IFAST meant ownership of IFAST. This is `ATIS-speak;’ it can’t trump plain English,” IFAST lawyers said in an April 27 filing. “IFAST and ATIS were parties to a services contract that either could end for any reason. Neither organization owned the other.”
IFAST has been transient the past decade, moving from one trade association to another. The global roaming forum was established by then-Bellcore, now Telcordia Technologies, and CTIA, in 1996. IFAST stayed with CTIA until the fall of 1999, when TIA took over management of IFAST. In July 2000, IFAST became affiliated with ATIS. Four years later Hall took IFAST private under a new Maryland corporation named TelecomXchange International. Another former CTIA official-Art Prest-is also part of the IFAST leadership team as a member-at-large.
