Dish Network 2002 Annual Report Download - page 3

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DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We make “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 throughout this document. Whenever you read a statement that is not simply a statement of historical fact
(such as when we describe what we “believe,” “expect” or “anticipate” will occur, and other similar statements), you
must remember that our expectations may not be correct, even though we believe they are reasonable. We do not
guarantee that the transactions and events described in this document will happen as described or that they will
happen at all. You should read this document completely and with the understanding that actual future results may
be materially different from what we expect. Whether actual results will conform with our expectations and
predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to the following:
• we are highly leveraged and subject to numerous constraints on our ability to raise additional debt;
• we face intense and increasing competition from the cable television industry, new competitors may enter
the subscription television business, and new technologies may increase competition;
• DISH Network subscriber growth may decrease, subscriber turnover may increase, and subscriber
acquisition costs may increase;
• satellite programming signals have been pirated and could be pirated in the future which could cause us to
lose subscribers and revenue, or result in higher costs to us;
• programming costs may increase beyond our current expectations;
• weakness in the global or U.S. economy may harm our business generally, and adverse local political or
economic developments may occur in some of our markets;
• we currently do not have traditional commercial insurance covering losses incurred from the failure of
launches and/or satellites and we may be unable to settle outstanding claims with insurers;
• the regulations governing our industry may change;
• our satellite launches may be delayed or, fail or our satellites may fail prematurely in orbit;
• service interruptions arising from technical anomalies on some satellites, or caused by war, terrorist
activities or natural disasters, may cause customer cancellations or otherwise harm our business;
• we may be unable to obtain needed retransmission consents, FCC authorizations or export licenses;
• we are party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our
business;
• we may be unable to obtain patent licenses from holders of intellectual property or redesign our products to
avoid patent infringement;
• sales of digital equipment and related services to international direct-to-home service providers may
decrease;
• future acquisitions, business combinations, strategic partnerships and divestitures may involve additional
uncertainties;
• the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the possibility of war or hostilities relating to Iraq, North Korea
and other countries, and changes in international political conditions as a result of these events may
continue to affect the U.S. and the global economy and may increase other risks; and
• we may face other risks described from time to time in periodic reports we file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
All cautionary statements made herein should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements
wherever they appear. In this connection, investors should consider the risks described herein and should not place
undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.
In this document, the words “we,” “our” and “us” refer to EchoStar Communications Corporation and its
subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. “EDBS” refers to EchoStar DBS Corporation and its
subsidiaries.