Judge won’t let government share data with Sprint in lawsuits

There was a hearing yesterday on the lawsuits from the Department of Justice and Sprint against AT&T in its proposed takeover of T-Mobile. The biggest news coming out of it is that Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said the government can’t give Sprint open access to the information it has received from AT&T. Government lawyers wanted to collaborate on the case, saying that Sprint’s expertise in the wireless market would help them get more information. Sprint, of course, is looking for a smoking gun for its argument that the deal would be anti-competitive. Huvelle said that the decision on sharing information would be made on a case by case basis.

As for AT&T’s request to toss both suits, Huvelle didn’t rule one way or the other. She said she’d think about it.

Next hearing is set for November 30.