Judge Settles Remaining DirecTV/FTC Discovery Clashes

DirecTV can conduct a three-hour deposition of FTC staff attorney Michael Ostheimer about the factual basis for the agency's investigation of DirecTV advertising and the support of its claims, and the FTC can compel the AT&T business to produce the text-mining algorithm it uses on its RIO customer notes system, said U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James of San Francisco in a discovery order (in Pacer) Friday. The two have been clashing over discovery matters (see 1606100016) as part of the FTC's 2015 lawsuit claiming DirecTV didn't properly communicate early cancellation fee terms to subscribers (see 1503110042). James also denied an FTC request to compel the deposition of DirecTV Deputy General Counsel Takehiko Suzuki about the company's compliance with a multistate agreement between DirecTV and all 50 states that dealt with similar claims but that the FTC didn't join, but said the agency can depose a designee to testify about the compliance program. James' order said it dealt with the last remaining discovery disputes.