AT&T Prevails in US Supreme Court Review of ISP Claimed Anti-Trust Issue
Pacific Bell (Now AT&T) v. Linkline Communications et al. Result: Reversed and Remanded to the U.S. District Court. Opinion Published February 25, 2009.
The United States Supreme Court held there was no Anti-Trust violation by AT&T if Linkline's allegations are limited to a claim of "price-squeeze" by AT&T. The Court held that the allegation by the ISP that wholesale pricing to the ISPs in excess of retail pricing in the ISP market is not a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.Linkline, in its argument, agreed that its allegations were insufficient to allege a violation of the Anti-Trust Act and sought to have the case remanded to the District Court where it would file an amended complaint clearly alleging that AT&T's retail pricing was below its costs and therefore, properly present to the District Court a claim for violation of the Anti-Trust Act.
The Court held:
"The most commonly articulated standard for price squeezes is that the defendant must leave its rivals a “fair” or “adequate” margin between wholesale and retail prices; this test is nearly impossible for courts to apply without conducting complex proceedings like rate-setting agencies. Some amici argue that a price squeeze should be presumed if the defendant’s wholesale price exceeds its retail price. But if both the wholesale price and the retail price are independently lawful, there is no basis for imposing antitrust liability simply because a vertically integrated firm’s wholesale price is greater than or equal to its retail price."
VOIPs Too! The FCC Form 477 is due March 16, 2009! The electronic filing system is now available for filing at the FCC’s Website:
FCC Form Page. Broadband Internet service providers and interconnected VoIP service providers who are required to file FCC Form 477 can also find instructions, systems documentation, FAQs, and other relevant information at http://www.fcc.gov/form477/. By an order issued by the Wireline Competition Bureau, the filing deadline for Form 477 was extended from March 2, 2009 to March 16, 2009.
Consumer Privacy and CPNI Filings. In February, the FCC announced it would take action against Carriers for failing to follow consumer privacy regulations. The FCC announcement noted that Carriers will have an opportunity to demonstrate to the Commission that the proposed fines are inapplicable or that there are reasons to reduce the penalty due to an inability to pay. See FCC Press Release - just click on the link below.
Red Flag Rules:Effective May 1, 2009. The FTC has clarified that the Red Flag Rules apply to utilities and telecom companies that have consumers as customers. Under the FTC regulations, your business may be classified as a “creditor” and therefore, you are required to adopt a compliance program to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in accordance with the federal regulations on or before An example of a common “red flag” for the telecom industry is a material change in the telephone call patterns in connection with a cell phone account. The regulations require adoption of a compliance program which will address the detection of this type of a pattern and an appropriate response. For example, a possible response could be alerting the customer to this unusual usage pattern.
DC Circuit Court: FCC 2007 CPNI Rules Upheld.
The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the 2007 order of the FCC which required a customer to affirmatively “opt in” to consent to disclosure of the customer’s proprietary information for use by a third party marketer.See Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Telecommunications Carriers’ Use of Customer Proprietary Network Information and Other Customer Information, 22 F.C.C.R. 6927 (2007) (“2007 Order”).
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