Freeing the Telephone Company Seven: The Justice Department Joins the Chorus

In January of this year, the Department of Justice submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia its recommendations concerning the line-of-business restrictions contained in the consent decree which was entered in U.S. v. AT&T. The Department recommended that restrictions on information services and manufacturing be lifted entirely and that the inter-exchange service restrictions be modified. The author discusses the marked departure from earlier positions of the Justice Department that these recommendations represent. The rationale for the Justice Department's change in position, as well as anticipated difficulties the Department would likely encounter in persuading the court that its recommendations be adopted, are also explored by the author.