Telcos Urge Court to Enforce Data Disclosure Ban
Telecom companies urged the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to reject the defense of the California Public Utilities Commission in a dispute over whether a CPUC division violated the court’s preliminary injunction banning disclosure of FCC Form 477 and…
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other data to third parties. The form includes information about phone and broadband deployment that AT&T, Comcast, CTIA, Verizon and other industry plaintiffs say is confidential. Last week, the CPUC said it didn’t violate the ban because its Office of Ratepayer Advocates disclosed to an agent of the ORA, and did so before the May 20 injunction (see 1607130019). But the telecom companies rejected the argument in a reply (in Pacer) Tuesday. “None of the CPUC’s arguments in response has merit,” the companies said. CPUC disclosed to a third party, not an employee, and the court has “ample authority” to enforce its ban, they said. “The Eleventh Amendment, in particular, poses no barrier to an order enforcing (or clarifying) the preliminary injunction as Plaintiffs have requested.”