CPUC Preliminary Hearing

[bob@larribeau.com (Bob Larribeau)]

  Pacific Bell ISDN Tariff Increase Application
  CPUC Preliminary Hearing
  February 21, 1996
  
  The California Public Utilities Commission held its preliminary hearing to
  review the Pacific Bell ISDN Tariff Increase Application.  The purpose of
  this hearing was to set the schedule for the hearing.  The Administrative
  Law Judge will set the schedule based on what was presented in the hearing.
  She said she was considering a schedule where the formal hearings would
  start on June 26.
  
  The meeting room was full.  There were the normal complement of lawyers from
  Pacific Bell, AT&T, and so on.  Intel was there.  Consumer groups like TURN
  and UCAN.  There were also a lot of regular people there who are opposing
  this price increase.  The California ISDN Users' Group signed up as a party
  to the hearings to protest the tariff.
  
  The main issue discussed was the Non-Disclosure Agreement that was
  distributed by Pacific Bell to receive a copy of the cost data supporting
  the tariff.  Pacific Bell has requested that this cost data be kept under
  seal.  The Administrative Law Judge did not accept Pacific's simple
  statement that this information should be sealed.   She told Pacific that
  they have to provide justification.
  
  The Non-Disclosure Agreement was particularly onerous.  It includes a
  consequential damages clause and requires that the signature be notarized.
  The Administrative Law Judge gave the parties one week to come to agreement
  on a Non-Disclosure Agreement or she would issue one herself on Friday,
  March 1.  She made it clear that she does not find consequential damages
  clauses acceptable.
  
  In response to a question about why Pacific Bell added the consequential
  damages clause and the notarized signatures, they said it was due to the
  broad interest that this tariff application was generating.  Normally only
  Pacific Bell, AT&T, MCI, etc. are involved in these hearings.  They seem to
  find all of us regular people there somewhat scary.  What really scares them
  is our ability to distribute information on the Web!
  
  The Administrative Law Judge was also sympathetic to a request to make an
  abridged version of the cost data available to the general public.  Strong
  requests were made to Pacific Bell to publish their methodology at a minimum.
  
  This hearing was a preliminary skirmish in what looks to be a long and
  interesting process.  The CIUG will be doing everything we can to defeat or
  ameliorate this price increase.  We need your support.
  
  You can subscribe to our mail group by sending email to
  "majordomo@internex.net" with "subscribe ciug" in the body of the message.
  We will also be posting information on our web page at
  "http://www.ciug.org".  You can contact us at "info@ciug.org".
  
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