Dish Network 2008 Annual Report Download - page 24

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We may not be aware of all intellectual property rights that our products may potentially infringe. In addition,
patent applications in the United States are confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office issues a patent and,
accordingly, our products may infringe claims contained in pending patent applications of which we are not aware.
Further, the process of determining definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid often involves expensive
and protracted litigation, even if we are ultimately successful on the merits.
We cannot estimate the extent to which we may be required in the future to obtain intellectual property licenses or
the availability and cost of any such licenses. Those costs, and their impact on our results of operations, could be
material. Damages in patent infringement cases may also be trebled in certain circumstances. To the extent that we
are required to pay unanticipated royalties to third parties, these increased costs of doing business could negatively
affect our liquidity and operating results. We are currently defending multiple patent infringement actions. We
cannot be certain the courts will conclude these companies do not own the rights they claim, that our products do not
infringe on these rights, that we would be able to obtain licenses from these persons on commercially reasonable
terms or, if we were unable to obtain such licenses, that we would be able to redesign our products to avoid
infringement. See “Item 3 – Legal Proceedings.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
We are subject to the requirements of federal, state, local and foreign environmental and occupational safety and
health laws and regulations. These include laws regulating air emissions, water discharge and waste management.
We attempt to maintain compliance with all such requirements. We do not expect capital or other expenditures for
environmental compliance to be material in 2009 or 2010. Environmental requirements are complex, change
frequently and have become more stringent over time. Accordingly, we cannot provide assurance that these
requirements will not change or become more stringent in the future in a manner that could have a material adverse
effect on our business.
SEGMENT REPORTING DATA AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA DATA
For operating segment and principal geographic area data for 2008, 2007 and 2006 see Note 16 in the Notes to the
Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
EMPLOYEES
We had approximately 26,000 employees at December 31, 2008, most of whom are located in the United States. We
generally consider relations with our employees to be good.
Although a total of approximately 18 employees in two of our field offices have voted to unionize, we are not
currently a party to any collective bargaining agreements. However, we are currently negotiating collective
bargaining agreements at these offices.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and accordingly file our annual report on
Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The public may read and copy any materials filed with the
SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at
(800) SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the Public Reference Room. As an electronic filer, our
public filings are also maintained on the SEC’s Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements,
and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is
http://www.sec.gov.