On Saturday, DIRECTV brought a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, stating that Disney has failed to negotiate in good faith. Disney has violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicating any licensing agreement on DIRECTV’s waiving any legal claims on Disney’s past, current, or future anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands.
“The negotiations have stalled because Disney insists on bundling and penetration requirements that a federal district court judge in New York recently found in the context of the “Venu” joint venture to be unlawful, anticompetitive, and “bad for consumers.” Disney wants to force DIRECTV to carry a “fat bundle” including less desirable Disney programming—while itself offering cheaper, “skinnier” bundles of programming that consumers want. The Commission has never considered a good faith complaint in these circumstances, and DIRECTV may well wish to bring one in the future concerning Disney’s conduct,” the complaint states.
“Along with these anti-competitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DIRECTV agree to a “clean slate” provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DIRECTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission. Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith.”
Read the full FCC filing here.
