DIRECTV 2005 Annual Report Download - page 125

THE DIRECTV GROUP, INC.
Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on their assessment and those criteria, management believes
that, as of December 31, 2005, our internal control over financial reporting is effective.
Our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an audit report on management’s
assessment of internal control over financial reporting, which appears below.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
El Segundo, California
We have audited management’s assessment, included in the accompanying Management’s Report
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, that The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (‘‘the Company’’)
maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria
established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining
effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal
control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management’s
assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained
in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over
financial reporting, evaluating management’s assessment, testing and evaluating the design and
operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing such other procedures as we considered
necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the
supervision of, the company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing
similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other personnel
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of
financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that
(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the
transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and that receipts and
expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management
and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a
material effect on the financial statements.
Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the
possibility of collusion or improper management override of controls, material misstatements due to
error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any evaluation
of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the
risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
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