"Investors led by Harbinger Capital Partners have filed a $1.9 billion lawsuit against a trio of GPS receiver manufacturers over LightSquared, a now bankrupt firm that still hopes to build a wireless broadband network across the United States.
"The investors are seeking compensation for losses incurred when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) denied LightSquared permission to build its wholesale wireless broadband communications network. They allege that the three firms -- Deere & Company, Garmin International and Trimble Navigation, plus the U.S. GPS Industry Council and the Coalition to Save Our GPS -- are liable for failing to warn them about the problems that have now forced a halt to the project.
"The filing argues that GPS manufacturers knew of plans to use the frequencies in question for a ground-based network, but did not tell the investors the network would overload receivers, irreparably hampering GPS service. The plaintiffs also argue that GPS manufacturers were effectively designing their devices to improperly use spectrum owned by LightSquared — creating a problem for which there was no practical solution once thousands of legacy GPS receivers were in place. Had they been informed of these problems, the plaintiffs argue, they 'never would have incurred these costs, or made their subsequent investments in the new network.'"
I told ya lightsquared was not done.
Folks of this caliber do not suffer in silence.
They make everybody suffer with them.
N
Good luck with that. As a sophisticated investor group, Harbinger was expected to conduct a diligent investigation of all realistic obstacles to their plan, and the impact of the installed receiver base was pretty easily uncovered. This smells to me more like an effort by Harbinger management to deflect damage charges from its individual investors.
Yep, what Jim said.
They need to take responsibility for their own actions and not researching well enough. But sadly that's just not how people work these days.
I have often wondered what the notice
on the back of every GPS receiver I've ever seen really means??
In case you don't have one handy here it is:
This device complies with Part 15 of FCC rules
Operation is subject to the following conditions
1. This device may not cause harmful interferences, and
2. This device may accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operations.(my emphasis)
I may have missed it but it seems like the lightsquared folks could have used that as ammunition.
Yes but how much will it cost to defend?
By the time it all said and done the next time the subject of Light Squared come up, or some thing like it. Who will take the risk of opposing it. I hope someone, but I bet it won't be the same players.
Had he really been on his game, he would have shorted his investment fund.
Though I'm not really sure how you do that.:-S
I have often wondered what the notice
An hour's consultation with any qualified radio engineer would have told them that their plan would be likely to cause interference. They didn't need the GPS industry to tell them that if they had done their homework, or not ignored what somebody in their organization may well have known.
The near-far power ratio problem is why the frequency bands were set up the way they were in the first place, and as it turned out they needed to be that way.
No one told me my 1998 investments in WorldCom, Lucent, Nortel, & JDS Uniphase wasn't going to work out, either ...
Besides, Lightsquare continued telling their investors there was no problem, or that all the problems were solved, and we're going full steam ahead, for years after the problems were apparent and the GPS industry objected. I'm sure the timeline will sort this all out.
They are sueeing the wrong people.
They should be sueeing the "Black Sheep" who told them he could fix everything.
It was an engineering problem.....
No Problemo.....
Remember how they had people post on this board?
They don't have a prayer in this fight, but the attorneys will make some more money.
The attorney fees of the companies they accuse will be negligible compared to their continued profits.
Methinks Mr. Falcone is concerned about being found hanging from a meathook ...
FX Network TV show, the Bridge, anybody watch last night?
The Mexican drug cartel really didn't like one of their own companeros. Stuck about 50 knives into his already dead corpse; strung him up in the town center for all to see. He must have really ticked somebody off, we'll cam him falcone...
-BbB B-)
All that is an end run to keep the play moving and in the courts.
These people are interested in keeping the concept going because they are taking over controlling interest in LightSquared holdings.
Apply pressure where they can because it is spend the money or give it away at this point and they have a lot of money on hand and a houseful of lawyers on the payroll.
Problem is that every surveyor possible was sending emails to Congressmen and Senators and whoever else they could that would listen, it was spoken about in all circles and published in papers and magazines around the world.
The truth came across all their desks.
They have to convince a court that they could not rely upon any of all that public information.
[sarcasm]Why don't they just go away[/sarcasm]
They have to convince the court it was Trimble's job to predict that the FCC would even consider allocating the bandwidth next to GPS to wireless towers ... that Trimble should have done Harbinger Capital's research, testing, and other due diligence ... then warned Lightsquares own engineers that it wouldn't work.
Funny thing is, Trimble and other manufactured did warn Lightsquared soon after the conditional FCC waiver was granted, but Lightsquared denied the problem until the bitter end.
Haha...that's exactly what I was thinking. They didn't ask "the GPS industry" if it would be a problem and had the "GPS Industry" say..."yeah, yeah, no problem, go right ahead." (Snicker snicker, lets all stop them after they get all the big investments and get their license).
The dude "borrowed" $113M from his fund (at a rate lower than what the fund was paying as a borrower ... i.e., losing money) for personal use at a time when he was refusing to allow investors to withdraw their own money (because it was "tied up" in LSQ).
I'm not sure that's even a crime anymore.
The "admitting fault or guilt" seems to have more to do with a net worth or capitalization threshhold, than anything.
I believe the admission of guilt opens you up to a slough of liabilities and civil suits. You can bet not everyone will be the target of Mary Jo White's new "admission of guilt" policy.
But, what i was thinking while reading this is that Phil is essentially a lame duck now. Someone will wrest these assets away from LSQ somehow, and maybe have a better plan for them, or more pull at the FCC. Who knows.
> The dude "borrowed" $113M from his fund (at a rate lower than what the fund was paying as a borrower ... i.e., losing money) for personal use at a time when he was refusing to allow investors to withdraw their own money (because it was "tied up" in LSQ).
I think the "borrowing" would have only got him a fine, he got the hammer for his 2006 bond shorting/extortion caper. He has to have known this was coming, that's why he moved so much capital out of his hedge funds and into his holding company, Harbinger Group.
BTW - if you're all "anti-Falcone" make sure not to purchase: rayovac batteries, black and decker appliances, Stanley hardware, pfister faucets, repel or cutter bug repellent, etc. cause HGI is the parent company that controls them. Same with Fidelity and Guarantee life insurance company. Or do any oil and gas work for EXCO Resources because Harbinger is in bed with them too.
Falcone may be taking a haircut in financial services, but unfortunately he ain't on his way to the poorhouse anytime soon.
Somewhere I read "the market punishes the bad actors". This seems to be bearing out.
