The Supreme Court case National Cable Television Association, Inc. v. United States et al., 1973 revolved around the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to impose annual fees on community antenna television systems (now known as cable TV). The FCC had been granted power by Congress to charge such fees for "regulatory expenses" but it was unclear what this term encompassed. The court ruled that these regulatory expenses should only cover costs directly related to issuing licenses and regulating communications services, not general administrative or rulemaking activities of the FCC. Therefore, the fee schedule set by the FCC was deemed excessive and beyond its statutory authority because it included costs unrelated to direct regulation of cable companies.

In the dissenting opinion for the National Cable Television Association, Inc. v. United States case in 1973, it was argued that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should have authority to impose fees on cable television systems based on their gross receipts rather than just covering administrative costs associated with regulation. The dissenters believed that Congress had intended for such a fee structure when they passed legislation allowing regulatory agencies to charge for their services. They pointed out that other industries were subject to similar fee structures and saw no reason why cable television should be exempted from this practice. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "benefits" as being limited only to direct benefits received by regulated entities from agency activities; instead, they contended indirect benefits like market stability and public trust also count towards these "benefits". Therefore, according to them, charging fees proportional to gross receipts is justified as it reflects both direct and indirect benefits accrued by cable companies due to FCC's regulatory activities.