FCC Announces Landmark Enforcement of Team Telecommunications Commitments

The Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement agreement with satellite and earth-station operator Marlink for violating the terms of national security and law enforcement commitments made to the U.S. government. As the FCC often does with licenses, the FCC conditioned Marlink’s license on compliance with the terms of a mitigation agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of an interagency committee known informally as “Team Telecom.” Marlink violated those terms by allowing foreign employees to access U.S. communications infrastructure and customer information without seeking prior approval from the DOJ as required under the agreement. Thanks to a DOJ referral, for the first time ever, the FCC enforced the terms of a Team Telecom mitigation agreement, getting Marlink to pay a voluntary contribution and adopt a compliance plan.