Modification of Final Judgment

In United States telecommunication law, the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) is the August 24, 1982 consent decree concerning the antitrust lawsuit of January 14, 1949, United States vs. Western Electric Company and American Telephone and Telegraph Company and its Final Judgment on January 24, 1956, the latter of which it vacated. ^[1] The decree was made with Harold H. Greene as presiding judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. ^[2]

The terms required the breakup of the Bell System and a reorganization of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), including removing local telephone service from AT&T control and placing business restrictions on the divested regional telephone companies in exchange for removing other longstanding restrictions on the types of business AT&T could enter. ^{[3] : 125  [4] [2] : 143 (also footnote 4)}

The MFJ also consolidated the case United States v. AT&T filed on November 20, 1974.

References

1. "Civil Action No. 82-0192 Modification of Final Judgment" (PDF). United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 1982-08-24. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
2. "United States v. American Tel. and Tel. Co., 552 F. Supp. 131 (D.D.C. 1983)" . Retrieved 2019-01-29. Full opinion accompanying the Modification of Final Judgment.
3. Noll, A. Michael (2010). Highway of Dreams: A Critical View Along the Information Superhighway (digital printing ed.). New York City: Routledge. ISBN   9781136685033. LCCN   96041620.
4. Sullivan, Lawrence A.; Hertz, Ellen (September 1990). "The AT&T Antitrust Consent Decree: Should Congress Change the Rules". Berkeley Technology Law Journal. 5 (2). University of California, Berkeley, School of Law: 236. doi:10.15779/Z38JH3G. ISSN   1086-3818.

 This article incorporates public domain material from Federal Standard 1037C. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 2022-01-22.