DOJ Appeals Judge's AT&T/Time Warner Ruling to DC Circuit; AT&T Surprised

DOJ appealed a federal judge's ruling that rejected its antitrust complaint and cleared AT&T to take over Time Warner. DOJ filed a brief notice with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday in USA v. AT&T (No. 1:17-cv-02511-RJL) that it's appealing the June 12 final judgment entered by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon (see 1806120002 and 1806120060). The department sued the companies in November to block the deal, alleging the combined company would be too big an anti-competitive risk to rival video distributors. AT&T General Counsel David McAtee said in a statement: “The Court’s decision could hardly have been more thorough, fact-based, and well-reasoned. While the losing party in litigation always has the right to appeal if it wishes, we are surprised that the DOJ has chosen to do so under these circumstances. We are ready to defend the Court’s decision at the D.C. Circuit.” AT&T/TW "is a bad deal for consumers and competition," said John Bergmayer, Public Knowledge senior counsel. "Since it has gone forward, AT&T has already raised prices for its DirecTV Now video service, more than doubled the mysterious ‘administrative fee’ it tacks on to most of its wireless bills, and raised the price of some of its wireless plans while removing the HBO subscription that it had previously included. Judge Leon’s decision contained numerous errors, and we believe the DOJ’s position should be vindicated.”