DOJ Says Ruling on AT&T-Time Warner Ignored ‘Economics and Common Sense’
The federal government challenged a judicial decision allowing AT&T to purchase Time Warner, arguing to a federal appeals court in Washington that the ruling suffered from “faulty logic” and ignored basic economic principles, according to The Washington Post.
The Justice Department asserted that the district court misunderstood the power dynamics at work when television distributors such as AT&T negotiate with TV programmers over content prices and terms, writes Brian Fung.
In its filing, the DOJ called the decision a “deeply flawed assessment of the government’s evidence.”
“It is fundamental to the economics of bargaining that a party derives leverage from having the ability to walk away, even if it never actually does so,” the Justice Department wrote.
Read the Washington Post article.
