The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filing on Wednesday shed further light on how it plans to argue that US District Judge Richard Leon’s decision was in error, reported Variety.
The DOJ is asking for a brisk set of briefing deadlines in the coming months, with oral arguments coming after the final filings on October 18. The government noted that they consulted with AT&T in setting up the schedule.
The government argues that because AT&T and Time Warner have already consummated their merger, time is of the essence. AT&T has committed to keeping its Turner division separate pending an appeal, but only until February 28, 2019.
“If the appeal is not decided by then, AT&T immediately can be expected to exercise the increased bargaining leverage that it would gain from control of Turner,” the Justice Department said. “This leverage likely would impact negotiations for Turner’s contracts with AT&T’s rival distributors that are expiring in 2018 and 2019.”
The Justice Department, in a filing in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, said that their case was “based on well-accepted and non-controversial economic principles of bargaining, but the district court effectively discarded those principles and their logical implication thatthe merged firm will raise prices to its rivals.”
Full Content: Variety
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