Sky Angel’s request to depose C-SPAN’s board and...

the District of Columbia. Sky Angel’s antitrust claims against C-SPAN over the channel refusing to allow its content to be distributed on Sky Angel’s online video service were dismissed last month by Judge Rudolph Contreras for failing to show a basis for collusion. However, Contreras ruled that Sky Angel could amend its original complaint to address the court’s comments, and Sky Angel then filed a request to depose six executives -- including C-SPAN President Rob Kennedy, Time Warner Cable Chairman Glenn Britt and Chris Winfrey, Charter Communications chief financial officer -- prior to amending its complaint. “The nature of the facts sought to be discovered and their possession uniquely in the hands of the defendant and its corporate board members threatens to undermine justice if defendant is permitted to maintain its cloak of secrecy,” said Sky Angel in its request for discovery. However, C-SPAN argued in a filing this week that pre-complaint discovery is against court procedure and usually granted only in situations when a witness is expected to die before the court can proceed normally. “There is not a single case in the [U.S. Court of Appeals for the] D.C. Circuit granting a plaintiff permission to take one deposition, let alone six, under circumstances similar to this case,” said C-SPAN. The cable channel also pointed out that Sky Angel said in its discovery request that it’s prepared to proceed with a new complaint even if denied the depositions. “Plaintiff does not have good cause for such an extraordinary measure when, by [its] own admission, [the plaintiff] already possesses information sufficient to amend the complaint,” said C-SPAN. “Plaintiff simply seeks to engage in a fishing expedition because it lacks any basis for its accusations."