Antitrust Scholars Get Time in AT&T/TW Oral Argument; New Amicus Motion Entered
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is allotting a group of antitrust scholars, as amici curiae, 10 minutes for oral argument Thursday in the DOJ's appeal of a lower court's allowing AT&T's buy of Time Warner, said…
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a docket 18-5214 order (in Pacer) posted Friday. Their participation was supported by Justice and opposed by appellee AT&T (see 1811260029). Appellant DOJ will get 20 minutes, and AT&T has 30 minutes, which it can share with supporting amici curiae, the court said. Separately, antitrust lawyer Joseph Alioto moved Saturday (see here, in Pacer) to file an amicus brief supporting DOJ, arguing that Supreme Court precedent established the Clayton Act prohibits acquisition of a significant rival in an industry trending toward concentration, so there needs to be immediate divestiture by TW. Alioto said by buying content company TW, AT&T is opting not to make investments in content it had planned to do before the deal, so AT&T is eliminated as a potential competitor in the content market. He said AT&T has started to pass on acquisition debt to consumers through increased prices. Alioto said his brief isn't opposed by DOJ but opposed by AT&T.