Apple wants a U.S. judge to reject a subpoena that may force it to reveal trade secrets linked to its unsuccessful bid to stream the NFL's "Sunday Ticket" programming.
Eddy Cue (Source: Re/code)
Apple's lawyers have submitted a filing in California federal court opposing a subpoena by residential and commercial "Sunday Ticket" subscribers. The subscribers have accused the NFL and its teams in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit of violating U.S. antitrust laws in the distribution of Sunday Ticket.
According to Reuters, the filing argues that the plaintiff's efforts to subpoena Apple's vice president of services, Eddy Cue, could be "unduly burdensome." Specifically, they have expressed concerns that the party in question was seeking to subpoena "irrelevant, disproportionate, and competitively sensitive" information in their subpoena.
"Plaintiffs cannot show that Mr. Cue has unique, non-duplicative knowledge of the facts in the underlying litigation," Apple's lawyers told the court.
Apple is not directly involved with the case, but plaintiffs are looking for information to build a better lawsuit against Google's YouTube TV, which now holds the right to the "Sunday Ticket" programming.
Apple had tried to bid for the programming, but ultimately, the deal fizzled out when Apple requested more flexibility in programming than the NFL would allow.