Announced Actions for March 20, 2001

The Commission has approved a trustee agreement regarding the following matter: Boeing/Hughes Space and Communications. Under the terms of a consent order approved by the Commission in September 2000 concerning Boeing's proposed purchase of Hughes Space and Communications, the FTC may appoint a monitor trustee to ensure that Boeing performs its responsibilities in a timely manner as required by the order. In particular, the trustee would help monitor Boeing's efforts to provide satellite interface information under the order, as technical expertise is required to evaluate the content of the information that is distributed. In addition, the trustee would be responsible for monitoring Boeing's compliance with the order's firewall requirements, providing the technical expertise necessary to evaluate procedures pertaining to computer systems, computer security and operations management.

The FTC previously appointed Sheila E. Widnall as the monitor trustee. Widnall is a former Secretary of the Air Force, with more than 30 years on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she is currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics. The approved trustee agreement provides Widnall with all of the rights and powers needed to execute her responsibilities under the order. The Commission vote to approve the trustee agreement was 5-0. (Docket No. C-3992; staff contact is Jeffery Dahnke, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2111; see press release dated September 27, 2000.)

Publication of Federal Register notice:

The Commission has authorized the publication of a Federal Register notice regarding the following: Minor amendments to the formal interpretation of the premerger notification rules concerning the formation of limited liability companies. As detailed in the notice, which will be published shortly, Formal Interpretation 15, 64 Fed. Reg. 34804 (June 29, 1999) addresses the reportability of certain transactions to the FTC involving the formation of limited liability companies. Due to recent statutory changes in the Hart-Scott-Rodino ("HSR") Premerger Notification Act that took effect on February 1, 2001, minor changes are being made to update the Act's formal interpretation to ensure it is consistent with these changes. Through these minor amendments, Formal Interpretation 15 is updated to reflect the new $50 million premerger notification filing threshhold in the HSR Act. In addition, other minor modifications have been made, including the revision of a footnote to reflect the elimination of the size-of-person test for transactions valued at more than $200 million.

The Federal Register notice contains the revised text of Formal Interpretation 15, which becomes effective immediately upon publication of the notice. (FTC File No. P859910; staff contact is Michael Verne, 202-326-3167; see related press release dated January 25, 2001.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide.