Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 36 / Monday, February 24, 1997 / Notices 8275

United States v. Microsoft Corp., 56 F.3d

at 1460.

V.—Conclusion

After careful consideration of the

comments and for the reasons stated

herein and in the Competitive Impact

Statement, the United States continues

to believe that the proposed Final

Judgment is adequate to remedy the

antitrust violations alleged in the

Complaint. There has been no allegation

or showing that the proposed settlement

constitutes an abuse of the United

States’ discretion nor that it is

inconsistent with the public interest.

Accordingly, entry of the proposed

Final Judgment should be deemed to be

in the public interest.

Dated: February 7, 1997.

Respectfully submitted,

Yvette Benguerel,

Attorney, Telecommunications Task Force,

U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division,

555 4th Street, N.W., Room 8104, Washington,

D.C. 20001, (202) 514–5808.

[December 18, 1996—Via Federal Express]

Donald J. Russell, Esq.,

Chief, Telecommunications Task Force,

Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of

Justice, Room 8104, 555 4th Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20001.

Re: United States of America v. U S West Inc.

and Continental Cablevision, Inc.,

United States District Court for the

District of Columbia

On behalf of Teleport Communications

Group Inc. (TCG), and in accordance with the

provisions of 15 U.S.C. Sec. 16(d), we hereby

submit the following comments in

connection with the matter of United States

of America v. U S West Inc. and Continental

Cablevision Inc. TCG seeks an amendment to

the Final Judgment providing that the

Affidavits submitted pursuant to Section VII

will be submitted confidentially and not be

filed in the public docket of the Court. The

undersigned has been in communication

with Robert J. Sachs, counsel for Continental,

and has been advised that they do not oppose

this request.

The proposed Final Judgment provides,

inter alia, that U S West use its best efforts

to divest the approximately 11% interest of

TCG held by Continental as expeditiously as

possible. The proposed Final Judgment

further provides that U S West divest a

portion of its interest in TCG sufficient to

cause it to own less than 10% by June 30,

1997, and divest any remaining portion of the

TCG interest by December 31, 1998. The

divestiture must be made to a purchaser or

purchasers in a manner that ‘‘shall not injure

TCG.’’

The proposed Final Judgment orders U S

West to deliver periodic Affidavits to the

plaintiff setting forth its efforts in connection

with the ordered divestiture. Said Affidavits

are to include such information as the names

of potential purchasers contacted or

expressing interest, and describe ‘‘in detail

each contact.’’ These Affidavits could be

subject to public disclosure unless they are

submitted confidentially pursuant to an

Order of this Court.

TCG is a publicly traded company with

approximately 30 million shares traded on

the NASDAQ National Market. TCG is

concerned that information concerning

efforts to sell a major block of the company’s

stock could have a significant adverse impact

on the market for TCG stock. Traders may

engage in speculative activity based on

information contained in these Affidavits

causing significant volatility in TCG’s stock

price. As a result, premature disclosure of U

S West’s activities could significantly disrupt

the market for TCG’s securities. Further, the

information contained in these Affidavits is

subject to being available selectively to

certain investors and not others, thereby

possibly requiring TCG to fully disseminate

such information so as to be in full

compliance with securities laws.

Additionally, there may be a chilling effect

on some of the prospective purchasers of U

S West’s interest in TCG if the possibility

exists that an inquiry or expression of

interest is subject to being publicly disclosed.

Such prospective purchasers may not even

want their interests made public, much less

risk a ‘‘public negotiation’’ for TCG. This may

have the effect of reducing the universe of

prospective purchasers, some of whom may

be best suited to insure the continued

viability of TCG. Furthermore, public

disclosure of the negotiations may jeopardize

or render unavailable any exemption under

federal and state securities law upon which

the parties intend to rely. This would cause

additional expense and may complicate or

even terminate negotiations.

TCG proposes that the required Affidavits

be submitted confidentially to the plaintiff

and not filed in the public docket of the

Court. In the event the divestiture is not

accomplished in the time frame set out in the

Final Judgment, a Trustee is appointed to

effect the divestiture. Although the Trustee is

similarly required to submit monthly status

reports, such reports are specifically to be

submitted confidentially. It appears the

failure of the proposed Final Judgment to

contain similar confidentiality protection

was an oversight by the parties, and a similar

restriction should be imposed upon the preTrustee status reports as well.

TCG believes the overriding principle in

the Final Judgment is to force a divestiture

of U S West’s interest in TCG in a fashion

that is not injurious to TCG and that could

not lessen competition. However,

information contained in the status Affidavits

could impact TCG’s financial well-being

pending the disposition. If there is any

possibility that such an outcome may occur,

it is in the best interest of the public to

support TCG’s request and maintain the

confidentiality of such information.

TCG further submits that existing federal

securities laws provide an appropriate

framework for the public disclosure of the

disposition of U S West’s holdings in TCG.

Because U S West will be subject to the

public reporting obligations under both

Section 13 and 16 of the Securities Exchange

Act of 1934 with respect to its TCG stock, U

S West is already required to make public

filings as to changes in its TCG stock

holdings when it enters into binding

agreements to dispose of such stock. TCG

believes that the public disclosure mandated

by these securities laws provides the best and

most orderly mechanism for the public

disclosure of changes in U S West’s holdings.

In conclusion, TCG asserts that its request

is consistent with the underlying premise of

the proposed Order—to cause a divestiture of

U S West’s holdings in TCG in a manner that

is not injurious to TCG. In light of the fact

that the request is not contested by

Continental, we request the United States

concur and submit such request to the Court.

Sincerely,

W. Terrell Wingfield, Jr.,

Vice President and General Counsel.

Service List

C. Loring Jetton, Jr., Wilmer, Cutler &

Pickering, 2445 M Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20037.

John McGrew, Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, Three

Lafayette Center, 1155 21st Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20036–3384.

W. Terrell Wingfield, Jr., Vice President and

General Counsel, Teleport

Communications Group, 429 Ridge Road,

Dayton, NJ 08810.

Sean C. Lindsay, U.S. West, Inc., 7800 East

Orchard Road, Suite 490, P.O. Box 6508,

Englewood, CO 80155–6508.

Robert J. Sachs, Senior Vice President,

Corporate and Legal Affairs, Continental

Cablevision, Inc., The Pilot House, Lewis

Wharf, Boston, MA 02110.

Certificate of Service

I, Tracy Varghese, hereby certify under

penalty of perjury that I am not a party to this

action, that I am not less than 18 years of age,

and that I have on this day caused the

Comments Relating to Proposed Final

Judgment and Response of the United States

to Comments to be served on defendants,

intervenors, and other interested persons by

mailing a copy, postage prepaid, to each of

the individuals and organizations on the

attached service list.

February 7, 1997.

Tracy Varghese.

[FR Doc. 97–4377 Filed 2–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–11–M

Notice Pursuant to the National

Cooperative Research and Production

Act of 1993—Commercial Turf

Products, Ltd. Joint Research,

Development and Production Joint

Venture

Notice is hereby given that, on

January 9, 1997, pursuant to Section 6(a)

of the National Cooperative Research

and Production Act of 1993, 15 U.S.C.

§ 4301 et seq. (‘‘the Act’’), Commercial

Turf Products, Ltd. filed written
8276 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 36 / Monday, February 24, 1997 / Notices

notifications simultaneously with the

Attorney General and the Federal Trade

Commission disclosing (1) the identities

of the parties and (2) the nature and

objectives of the joint venture. The

notifications were filed for the purpose

of invoking venture. The notifications

were filed for the purpose of invoking

the Act’s provisions limiting recovery of

antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages

under specified circumstances. Pursuant

to Section 6(b) of the Act, the identities

to the parties are LESCO., Inc.,

Cleveland, OH and MTD Products, Inc.,

Valley City, OH.

The nature and objectives of this

venture are research, development and

manufacturing production of

commercial turf care equipment. The

venture will include engineering,

product development, and

manufacturing. The manufacturing will

be conducted in the United States. The

products that are manufactured will be

sold in the United States and potentially

abroad.

Constance K. Robinson,

Director of Operations, Antitrust Division.

[FR Doc. 97–4375 Filed 2–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–11–M

Notice Pursuant to the National

Cooperative Research and Production

Act of 1993—Infotest International

Notice is hereby given that, on July 2,

1997, pursuant to Section 6(a) of the

National Cooperative Research and

Production Act of 1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301

et seq. (‘‘the Act’’), InfoTEST

International (‘‘InfoTEST’’) has filed

written notifications simultaneously

with the Attorney General and the

Federal Trade Commission disclosing

changes in membership. The

notifications were filed for the purpose

of extending the Act’s provisions

limiting the recovery of antitrust

plaintiffs to actual damages under

specified circumstances. Specifically,

American Medical Outcomes

Repository; Government Services,

Information Systems Branch; and The

Lewis Group are no longer members of

InfoTEST.

No other changes have been made in

the membership, nature or objectives of

the consortium. Membership in

InfoTEST remains open, and the

consortium intends to file additional

written notifications disclosing all

changes in membership.

On December 7, 1993, InfoTEST filed

its original notification (as the National

Information Infrastructure Testbed)

pursuant to Section 6(a) of the Act. The

Department of Justice published a notice

in the Federal Register pursuant to

Section 6(b) of the Act on May 18, 1994

(60 FR 25960).

The last notification was filed with

the Department of Justice on October 9,

1996. A notice was published in the

Federal Register on December 19, 1996

(61 FR 67067).

Constance K. Robinson,

Director of Operations, Antitrust Division.

[FR Doc. 97–4376 Filed 2–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–11–M

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION

Records Schedules; Availability and

Request for Comments

AGENCY: National Archives and Records

Administration, Office of Records

Services.

ACTION: Notice of availability of

proposed records schedules; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The National Archives and

Records Administration (NARA)

publishes notice at least once monthly

of certain Federal agency requests for

records disposition authority (records

schedules). Records schedules identify

records of sufficient value to warrant

preservation in the National Archives of

the United States. Schedules also

authorize agencies after a specified

period to dispose of records lacking

administrative, legal, research, or other

value. Notice is published for records

schedules that (1) Propose the

destruction of records not previously

authorized for disposal, or (2) reduce

the retention period for records already

authorized for disposal. NARA invites

public comments on such schedules, as

required by 44 USC 3303a(a).

DATES: Requests for copies must be

received in writing on or before April

10, 1997. Once the appraisal of the

records is completed, NARA will send

a copy of the schedule. The requester

will be given 30 days to submit

comments.

ADDRESSES: Address requests for single

copies of schedules identified in this

notice to the Civilian Appraisal Staff

(NWRC), National Archives and Records

Administration, College Park, MD

20740–6001. Requesters must cite the

control number assigned to each

schedule when requesting a copy. The

control number appears in the

parentheses immediately after the name

of the requesting agency.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Each year

U.S. Government agencies create

billions of records on paper, film,

magnetic tape, and other media. In order

to control this accumulation, agency

records managers prepare records

schedules specifying when the agency

no longer needs the records and what

happens to the records after this period.

Some schedules are comprehensive and

cover all the records of an agency or one

of its major subdivisions. These

comprehensive schedules provide for

the eventual transfer to the National

Archives of historically valuable records

and authorize the disposal of all other

records. Most schedules, however, cover

records of only one office or program or

a few series of records, and many are

updates of previously approved

schedules. Such schedules also may

include records that are designated for

permanent retention.

Destruction of records requires the

approval of the Archivist of the United

States. This approval is granted after a

thorough study of the records that takes

into account their administrative use by

the agency of origin, the rights of the

Government and of private persons

directly affected by the Government’s

activities, and historical or other value.

This public notice identifies the

Federal agencies and their subdivisions

requesting disposition authority,

includes the control number assigned to

each schedule, and briefly describes the

records proposed for disposal. The

records schedule contains additional

information about the records and their

disposition. Further information about

the disposition process will be

furnished to each requester.

Schedules Pending

1. Congressional Budget Office (N1–

520–96–1). Tax analysis data,

documentation and supplementary data

files (final reports will be preserved).

2. Department of the Air Force (N1-

AFU–96–9). Bioenvironmental

engineering surveys/case files proposed

for long-term retention.

3. Department of Health and Human

Services, Health Care Financing

Administration (N1–440–96–1).

Medicare waivers for hospital payments,

instructions and background files,

chrono-logical files of state reviews,

CLIA data and HCFA forms 114 and

116.

4. Department of Health and Human

Services, Health Care Financing

Administration (N1–440–97–1).

Appointee clearance and vetting files.

5. Department of Housing and Urban

Development (N1–207–95–8). Records

relating to Cultural Design Awards

(program files and winning nomination

case files are designated for preservation).

6. Department of Housing and Urban

Development (N1–207–96–7).