DISH NETWORK AND DIRECTV FILE SUIT AGAINST OHIO

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EchoStar Satellite Corporation and its DISH Network, and DIRECTV on June 26 filed a lawsuit against the state of Ohio for passing a discriminatory 6 per cent sales tax for satellite television service, which Ohio Gov. The sales tax was not imposed on local cable television services, even though satellite television companies compete with incumbent cable operators in the same market. The lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County, Ohio. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment holding that the satellite-only tax is unconstitutional and requests a permanent injunction against enforcement of the tax on approximately 700,000 satellite TV customers in Ohio. The satellite-only sales tax was sponsored by local cable television operators that have exploited the budget crisis in Ohio in their attempt to gain an unfair and unconstitutional competitive advantage against faster-growing satellite television services.