RonJohn
Helluva Engineer
- Messages
- 4,522
I understand your point, however you are totally bought into the way FSU and the Florida AG characterize the situation. Does an organization simply having a member who is a public entity force that organization to be open book? If a drug company invites the Surgeon General to observe their production of an experimental drug, does that force them to open up the formula for the drug to the public? There is a line somewhere, but if that line is stretched so far that having a public entity as a member forces all of your internal records to be public, then public entities will have a hard time joining or maintaining memberships in organizations. GTRI is a public entity. They do a lot of research for the military, which is also a public entity. Will a FOIA request get access to all of the details of the research that is being conducted?
The Florida AG says that FSU would have to pay half a billion dollars to withdraw from the ACC. That simply is not true. They would have to pay somewhere around $130 million to withdraw. If they want to purchase the broadcast rights back, that is a separate thing. FSU signed the copyrights to their broadcasts over to the ACC. It is simply a commercial transaction to get those rights back. They could try to negotiate the rights back while still being a member of the ACC, or after leaving the ACC. There is no set value of $370 million that those rights must be sold for. The ACC could decide to give them back at no charge, or they could decide not to sell them at any price. The ACC owns the rights, period. Just like an antique car, the owner can negotiate a sales price, or decide they would rather keep the property and not sell. FSU's lawyers and the Florida are doing what lawyers are paid to do. They are advocating. Watch some YouTube court videos. You will see defense lawyers arguing for bail discussing lifelong ties to the community, public service performed by the defendant, etc. If all you hear is the defense attorney, you would believe that the defendant obviously should be released on his on recognizance pending trial. However, if you hear that he was caught on bodycam by police officers in bad situations with minors in the back of his place of business, none of the strong arguments that the defense attorney made will matter. Good lawyers are very good at phrasing things, and including only points that support their client's interest. If you read the phrasing from FSU, or the Florida AG, or even the ACC and simply believe what they say then you will have the wool easily pulled over your eyes.
