IIRC there was a Supreme Court case involving a company that bid on one of the earlier spectrum auctions, won the auction, and went bankrupt before it paid. The government wanted to take back that piece of spectrum, but the courts said that the bankrupt company had title to the spectrum and the government would just have to get in line behind all the other creditors for a piece of its debt.
Presumably the FCC is trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.
Presumably the FCC is trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.