Apple has once again been granted the right to pursue documents from federal agencies as part of its defense in the antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice. Special Master Jose Linares rejected the DOJ’s request to reconsider his earlier decision, which permits Apple to seek records from 14 separate government agencies.
The ruling keeps Linares’s original order intact after he concluded that “none of [the DOJ’s] arguments in support of its application for reconsideration are persuasive.” He added that he saw “no reason, persuasive or otherwise, to reverse course at this point,” and that “Federal Agencies, in this case, (are) part of the United States for purposes of party discovery.”
Why Apple Wants the Documents
A central part of Apple’s defense strategy focuses on how the U.S. government itself uses the company’s products. Apple contends that several practices challenged by the DOJ are actually legitimate security and privacy safeguards. To back that claim, the company wants to examine how federal agencies weigh security and privacy when they set smartphone policies and make purchasing decisions.
To support this argument, Apple has been seeking documents from the following 14 agencies:
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration, Department of Labor, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Security Agency (NSA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Personnel Management, and the Department of State.
How the Dispute Unfolded
After Apple’s initial request to compel these agencies to hand over the documents, the DOJ objected, and the disagreement was referred to Special Master Linares for a ruling. Last month, Linares granted Apple’s request, prompting the DOJ to file a motion for reconsideration.
In that motion, the DOJ argued that Linares had applied the wrong legal standard, that Apple’s requests were unduly burdensome and disproportionate, and that the documents sought had limited relevance to the case. Apple responded with an opposition claiming the DOJ’s motion “failed at every level” and rebutting each of the department’s arguments individually.
Much of the DOJ’s renewed challenge centered on Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The department maintained that “a non-party to litigation is afforded greater protection from discovery than a party,” and argued that Linares’s order was flawed because it did not reference or incorporate Rule 45 into its analysis.
Linares dismissed that reasoning, writing that he is familiar with Rule 45 and the different standards that apply to third-party discovery. He noted that a review of his opinion and order shows the DOJ “is simply incorrect,” pointing out that he had detailed how the dispute arose. With the reconsideration denied, Apple remains cleared to pursue documents from all 14 federal agencies.
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Image: 9to5mac.com
