Admitted to Practice | U.S. Supreme Court | | U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit | | U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 2011 | | U.S. District Court District of Columbia | | U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin | | District of Columbia, 1979 |
| John Seiver practices communications law, representing the interests of cable television, competing delivery technology and telecommunications companies. He has more than 30 years of regulatory and litigation experience at the local, national and international levels. John has either directly handled or been substantially involved with most of the major state and national communications litigation since 1984.
Practice Highlights
- More than 30 years of regulatory and litigation experience representing the interests of franchised cable television companies, related affiliates, state and national cable associations, and regional and national program networks providing video, data, and voice services in proceedings before state and federal courts, the FCC, and state public service commissions
- Handled directly or substantially involved in most of the major state and national communications litigation since 1984
- Litigation and related matters under the Communications Act and Fifth Amendment
- Counseled and litigated matters involving governmental and third-party demands for subscriber information under ECPA, Cable Act, and other state and federal statutes
- Drafted, counseled, and litigated online and video advertising privacy policies, DMCA compliance, subscriber agreements, acceptable use policies for Internet access service and websites
- Drafted, negotiated, and litigated commercial agreements and statutory provisions relating to program distribution, program access, copyright and program licensing, telecommunications franchising, rights-of-way disputes, OVS, and telco, electric and municipal/cooperative competitive video deployment
- Litigated theft of service proceedings, late fee defenses, signal carriage disputes, franchise renewals and transfers, and arbitration of copyright licensing disputes; federal preemption cases under Section 253 of the 1996 Act; and pole attachment hearings, regulatory proceedings, and appeals
- Defended constitutional challenges to the 1996 revisions to Pole Attachment Act at the FCC and in the federal court of appeals
Selected Experience Represented cable operators in victory at a hearing before an FCC ALJ and before the full Commission on appeal of that victory in a pole attachment complaint against Gulf Power, after the defendant terminated pole attachment agreements and demanded new ones with 600 percent rate increases. FCC 07D-01; E.B. Docket No. 04-381 (F.C.C. 2011). Now pending in DC Circuit (no. 11-1215). On behalf of a major cable television operator, won a motion to dismiss a federal complaint brought by a utility company that demanded higher pole attachment payments for the operator's provision of telecommunications and voice services over its cable system. (2010) Represented cable operator in obtaining an Atlanta court ruling which placed jurisdiction over pole attachment rate disputes with the FCC. Victory in litigation that has been going on since 2006 over the application of the telecom attachment rate to mixed cable and telecom networks, with approximately $5 million at stake directly and hundreds of millions of dollars at risk nationally from adverse rulings. (2009) Obtained dismissal on lack of jurisdiction, on behalf of internet service provider Bresnan Communications in federal privacy lawsuit challenging the use of deep-packet inspection technology. (2009) Won dismissal of sister-case in Montana and currently on appeal in the 9th Circuit. Federal appeals court defense of subscriber privacy claims under Digital Millennium Copyright Act; multiple proceedings in state and federal courts for ISPs responding to, quashing or objecting to subpoenas for subscriber information. 393 F.3d 771 (8th Cir. 2005) Defended Adelphia against suit seeking more than $500 million in damages for copyright infringement arising from Adelphia’s failure to pay copyright royalties during the 2002/1 accounting period, when Adelphia declared bankruptcy. (2004) On behalf of major cable television operators and state cable associations filed comments and reconsideration petitions before the FCC. Additional Qualifications
- Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, 2007-2008
- Partner, Cole, Raywid & Braverman LLP, 1984-2006
- Associate, Cole, Raywid & Braverman LLP, 1979-1984
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Professional and Community Activities
- Federal Communications Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Legal Advisory Committee, National Capital Chapter, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
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Education J.D., Boston University School of Law, 1979 B.A., Economics, University of Virginia, 1975, with distinction | |