Eight former FTC and DOJ antitrust enforcers from Democratic and Republican administrations asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm the district court's denial of the FTC's motion for a preliminary injunction on Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy (see 2307110031). Their brief was one of seven amici briefs filed Wednesday (docket 23-15992), all in opposition to the FTC's merger challenge on appeal.
The Commerce Department must consider evidence on remand regarding the control antidumping duty respondent Shanghai Tainai could have exerted over its suppliers before the agency hits the company with partial adverse facts available, the Court of International Trade ruled. Issuing the Sept. 14 opinion in a case on the 2019-20 review of the AD order on tapered roller bearings from China, Judge Stephen Vaden said Commerce failed to consider the factors set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in using AFA on a fully cooperative respondent that "lacks the ability to control its suppliers."
Data reported on California’s foster youth pilot program from February through July “is likely to contain inaccuracies that require further review and analysis, and caution should be exercised in reaching any conclusions based on this preliminary data,” T-Mobile and iFoster said Tuesday. The California Public Utilities Commission last week sought comments by Sept. 26 on a staff proposal to make the California LifeLine foster youth pilot program permanent (see 2309050080). But in a Tuesday letter to the CPUC, the companies running the pilot said “iFoster identified numerous discrepancies in the phone numbers for the foster youth on the service provider bills beginning with the February bill.” T-Mobile and iFoster said they have been working for months to investigate and correct the problems. “The account portal that T-Mobile provided for iFoster’s use in March encountered a system error which caused the portal to omit broadband usage for a significant number of lines for the months of March and May 2023,” they said. “T-Mobile corrected that issue and it appears that the integrity of the data for other iFoster reporting months was not affected.” Another “error involved the misalignment between phone numbers used as placeholders on T-Mobile phones pending disbursal, and the permanent phone numbers that were later associated with those same phones,” said iFoster and T-Mobile: That “caused an understatement of text, voice, and data usage for many of the youth lines, affecting the accuracy of some of the data reported by iFoster beginning in February 2023.” T-Mobile expects to correct data and to implement a “new ordering and kitting process in place within the next few weeks,” they said.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson for Northern California ordered the court’s Aug. 23 order (see 2308240039) denying Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to be converted into an order denying a preliminary injunction, said a Tuesday filing (docket 3:23-cv-03880) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. A proposed order by counsel for both parties Tuesday noted the court addressed the merits in considering Kennedy’s TRO application and concluded he is not likely to prevail on the merits or suffer irreparable harm. Kennedy contended that the denial of his application for a TRO is tantamount to a denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction; Google did not oppose. All deadlines related to the motion for a preliminary injunction are vacated, it said.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register Sept. 14 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission published the following Federal Register notices Sept. 14 on AD/CVD proceedings:
The property owner in a cell tower access dispute requested leave to withdraw his counterclaim against STC Two and Global Signal, said his Tuesday motion (docket 2:23-cv-00764) in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio in Columbus. Defendant Thomas Branham asserted in a counterclaim that the path of STC Two’s access to a cell tower from the entrance gate requires a trespass on Branham’s property. STC Two has a pending motion to dismiss the counterclaim; Branham’s response is due Friday. “After informal discovery and sharing of information, it has become evident to defendant that the position set forth in his Counterclaim is incorrect and not supported by the facts of permitted access,” said attorney Charley Hess, who filed a motion for leave to withdraw as Branham’s counsel of record last month (see Ref:2308280028]) after Branham terminated the representation during a meeting at the cell tower site with plaintiffs’ attorneys in Columbus. U.S. District Judge James Graham denied the motion to withdraw after Branham said in a Sept. 1 teleconference he would like Hess’ continued representation. Branham owns the property where a cellsite has been operating for decades under a 1998 Sprint PCS site agreement that was amended in 2013. Under the lease, STC Two and Global Signal are authorized to maintain, operate and sublease the cell tower and related equipment at the site, said their May memorandum of law in support of their motion to dismiss Branham’s counterclaims. Plaintiffs filed their complaint after Branham “repeatedly and brazenly obstructed and/or prevented altogether” STC Two’s access to the cellsite in “blatant violation” of the lease. In response to the lawsuit, Branham filed his answer and counterclaims, admitting he obstructed STC Two's access to the cellsite. Branham “curiously asserted claims” against STC Two for trespass, preliminary and injunctive relief and breach of contract, and he installed a padlock on the gate of the metal fenced enclosure leading to the cellsite, said plaintiffs’ motion. Withdrawing the counterclaim will simplify the issues, “furthering the opportunity of the parties to reach resolution,” said Branham’s Tuesday motion.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy for Montana in Missoula granted the Digital Progress Institute's, Virginia's and the Institute for Family Studies' unopposed motions for leave pending since Aug. 30, all in opposition to the consolidated motions for a preliminary injunction to block Montana from enforcing SB-419, the state’s TikTok ban, when the measure takes effect Jan. 1, said the judge's signed order Tuesday (dockets 9:23-cv-00056 and 9:23-cv-00061). The actual briefs are due Sept. 26, said the order. Molloy previously ruled, “absent exceptional circumstances,” that he will consider no additional motions for leave to file amicus briefs in support of or in opposition to the injunction, not counting those motions in opposition that were already pending (see 2309060015). “This being a case with substantial public interest, amicus briefing may be helpful to provide unique information and perspective beyond that provided by the parties,” said Molloy’s Tuesday order. Each of three granted motions “seeks leave to file briefing that is both timely and useful,” it said.
The Commerce Department illegally assigned adverse facts available to Vietnamese hardwood plywood producers for alleged "deficiencies, inconsistencies and/or contradictions in their responses," as part of an antidumping and countervailing duty anti-circumvention proceeding, importer USPLY said in a Sept. 13 complaint at the Court of International Trade. Commerce failed to tell the Vietnamese producers of these supposed consistencies or give them an opportunity to rebut them, the importer argued (USPLY v. United States, CIT # 23-0156).
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein for Southern New York in Manhattan approved the stipulation between Comcast Cable and MaxLinear and their attorneys that assures Comcast will be able to continue sourcing MaxLinear chips for its broadband gateways at least through late May, said Hellerstein’s signed order Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-04436).