DOJ vs. AT&T hearing set for September 21st

By on Sep 7, 2011 at 3:45 PM
Legal September 7, 2011

Federal Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle set a hearing for the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against AT&T for September 21st, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. “The parties shall be prepared to discuss the prospects for a settlement” on that date, Huvelle said. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA on August 31st and said “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market.” AT&T responded and said it would ask for an expedited hearing and that the DOJ has the “burden of proving alleged anti-competitive affects and [AT&T intends] to vigorously contest this matter in court.” AT&T, Deutsche Telekom and the Department of Justice have been asked to file the initial paperwork for the hearing by September 16th.

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  • http://twitter.com/GRZLA Grizzly Atoms

    Block the merger DOJ.

    • Anonymous

      ,. wow.. I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HDTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prîces at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HDTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for.
      I use EgoWîn.com

      • Drew

        Cut and paste much…?? Oh, and just to give you heads up, you’re already an idiot.

    • Hahahahhaha

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  • Roger

    AT&T SUCKS

    • Racer30

      Big donkey dick!

    • YourMOM

      Apparently not good enough.  They still manage to lose money each quarter and the money they could be using to build up their 4G network is being spent filing lawsuits “for the people.”  

      Sprint was able to buy Nextel for almost 50 million and destroyed the company. Then they were trying to buy T-Mobile to do the same.  Total hypocrites.  

  • Anonymous

    I hope they block it, but I know the DOJ is suing because they weren’t paid enough.

  • Racer30

    Courts need to side with the DOJ. No settlements, just block the sale.

    • Roger

      They will roll over like ever other politician after they are greased.

      • Anonymous

        yep if this makes it to the Supreme Court it will go through, the SC is so big business slanted these days it’s utterly comical. America has fallen people.

  • http://twitter.com/thelanai ME and ME

    even before they even plan to merge with T-Mobile, ATT is already doing anticompetitive acts that hurt consumers.

    just in the last month they got rid of the sms option in fear of iMessage and killed off A-List feature.  imagine what they’ll do when they have killed off another competitor?  that kind of power is crazy!

    • Flintchesthair

      Yeah!!!!!! And they added free mobile to any mobile at no extra cost……….Wait……….

      • Anonymous

        how does that NOT still screw people who don’t use $20 worth of text a month?

      • Flintchesthair

        My 89 year old grandma has unlimited texting.

        With all the free text apps and the upcoming Imessage, At&t adding a feature to it’s texting plan to make it more desirable is not “screwing you”.

  • Anonymous

    AT&T this is what you get. You had the iPhone exclusively for years and you rested on those laurels. You spent so many resources trying to support the iPhone that you forgot to advance your network. Now Verizon is lightyears ahead in 4G coverage, and even Tmo has a good 4G offering.

    Crash and burn AT&T. DOJ will never let this happen.

    • Anonymous

      Yes they will; right after AT&T makes some substantial $$ contributions – TMobile is as good as HISTORY:(

  • Wirelessmodz

    Do the right thing Don don’t fuck us!! I’m willing to live with the consequences of this been stopped, if T-Mobile dies so be it but don’t let the Death Star kill us cause that’s what will happen if this isn’t stopped right here and now. Just Say No just like Betty Ford said fuck art

    • Wirelessmodz

      Doj. Not Don and being not been dam you auto correct

    • Anonymous

      She really said that; why that bitch™

  • KenG

     “The parties shall be prepared to discuss the prospects for a settlement”
    I don’t like the sound of that.  I am worried now that Obama blocking the merger was too good to be true, that they might only be looking for a few minor concessions to claim a political victory but an economic surrender.

    • http://twitter.com/GRZLA Grizzly Atoms

      Obama isn’t the Department of Justice, he is the President.

      • Flintchesthair

        Lol

  • ItsMichaelNotMike

    This is so insignificant and some people are making a mountain out of a mole hill.  Here is what the Judge said on the phone to the lawyers:

    “MINUTE ORDER: Based on the telephone conference held with the parties on
     this date, it is hereby ORDERED that a status conference is set for 2
    p.m. on September 21, 2011, in Courtroom 23A, before Judge Ellen S.
    Huvelle; and it is further ORDERED that, in lieu of a LCvR 16.3 report,
    the parties shall file, by September 16, 2011, a joint Proposed
    Scheduling Order and Case Management Plan, which will facilitate the
    just, speedy and inexpensive determination of all pretrial matters and
    the trial of this case; and it is further ORDERED that at the status
    conference, the parties shall be prepared to discuss the prospects for
    settlement. Signed by Judge Ellen S. Huvelle on September 6, 2011.
    (lcesh1)”

    If you insist on reading something significant into the word “settlement,” consider:

    - The statement about settlement is at the end of the order, almost an afterthought. (Actually it’s just a generic, canned statement.)

    - The Judge did NOT say “discuss settlement” she said “PROSPECTS” for settlement.  That’s not asking the lawyers to discuss much at the conference about settlement.

    - One could just as well say that this case is obviously going to trial because the Judge says she wants a litigation plan and a plan for the trial.  Moreover, the bulk of this Order deals with litigation of the case, not discussing settlement.

  • Anonymous

    “The parties shall be prepared to discuss the prospects for a settlement” on that date, Huvelle said.

    Translated: The DoJ will drop its case as long as AT&T greases some Congressional hands (without a paper trail – of course)*

    This merger is as good as APPROVED; the DoJ lawsuit was just another political stunt – True Federal Story™®©

  • U.N. Owen

    AT&T’s predecessor – Ma Bell – had the telephone industry all to itself for more than half a century.

    And, what ‘innovations’ did we get?

    (silence)

    In less than 20 years since that breakup, we’ve progressed by leaps & bounds.

    Competition breeds innovation.

    • Bullet Tooth Tony

      Are you serious?  What innovations did we get from AT&T?  Really?  Here’s just a brief snippet of the life, technological and science-altering findings and developments of Bell Labs:
      -Synchronous sound in motion pictures-Stereo sound-Television transmission over airwaves-Solar Power Cells-Cellular telephony-TDMA-CDMA-UNIX-C Coding language, and later as an enhancement to its original, C++-Fax Machine-Data networking-The Transistor-The Laser-ISDN – digitally multiplexed voice signals-Communications satellites-Touch-tone telephones-Digital signal processors – DSPs change electronics, they’re in almost everything-Microwave radio relays-Large-scale integrated circuits-Computerized telephone switching systemsAnd the grand-daddy of all contributions AT&T made to the world… they discovered the motherfucking echo of the BIG BANG.In the *30* years since the breakup, and nearly 40 since it was evident that was the end-game of the lawsuit they were faced with, innovation has ground to a *halt* by comparison.  What have the new telephone companies graced us with?  TDMA and CDMA are still in use, and they’ve deployed enhancements to these systems created by totally different companies than their own.

      Competition does not breed innovation, it never has and it never will.  It hinders it as it always has done.  AT&T afforded Bell Labs because it could afford for 90% of the things they funded to flop.  What Bell Labs did was revolutionary.  What’s been done since has merely been evolutionary.

      I’d suggest you pick up a history book.

  • fishkid13

    You got this DOJ. Stand up for us consumers. 

  • BernieMadoff

    “settlement” ….. interesting wording. The judge is not on either side, she just wants an outcome. AT&T will have their way. Maybe it won’t be the road they chose, but they will get a lot of out this. 

    What would everyones opinion be if Sprint came out of the T-Mobile buying closet and proclaimed they wanted to buy? Too bad they are struggling too. loosing over 100,000 postpaid customers every quarter if not month at this point, just like T-Mobile. Guys, look at the economy, I’ll be happy if Sprint will be around in 2 years. Times are tough. If the price is too high for your AT&T plan, then change it. Stop bitchin because your a baby and NEED your Smartphone. Do something about it. Maybe if America got off its FAT ass, out of Cracker Barrel (which I love, but I’m skinny and smart)and stopped spending $400 a month at Starbucks, I’m sure our country would look a lot different. Boo friggin hoo. 

  • SprintBitch

    Go AT&T!!!  

    Sprint go bitch to your Bankruptcy lawyers.  If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.  

  • Anonymous

    This is laughable, The DOJ is so inept that it has won less that 50% of it’s lawsuits, AT&T will bury them with high priced lawyers and make the DOJ look like what they are, Inept. whatever Telco that bought the DOJ and had them file this action didnt pay the politicians enough, AT&T will pay these politiciand very well to just go away, this is in the bag for AT&T, sorry Sprint.

  • Flintchesthair

    This is just a way to make money off a business transaction. At&t is going to buy tmobile. Sprint can cry all they want, but that company had been going down the crapper long before any merger was even brought up. The doj just wants it to appear that they are paying attention does anyone here think that AT&T hasn’t been “consulting” with them the whole time?

  • http://twitter.com/86er Jeff Wietrzykowski

    What happened to free enterprise? I’m no fan of monopolies, but the DOJ has no right to file a lawsuit against AT&T. Our government continues to overstep it’s boundaries, and nobody seems to care. No wonder our economy is sucking right now.

    • Anonymous

      A fucking idiot like you Jeff, should buried 6 feet under…
      If you have at&t stay with them but dont ever think tmobile people likes to be with AT&T…
      I was with AT&T for 8 years full of problems but I’m with tmobile for 5 years now and it’s all glory…
      So if you like AT&T stay with that shit hole…
      Slowest Internet, customer service sucks, bill is super high and soooo slow in innovating…
      AT&T is a total fail company…

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