T-Mobile’s May 4 brief on discovery documents it designated as confidential under the protective order in the fake ring tones class action brought by plaintiffs Craigville Telephone and Consolidated Telephone “fails to show that its confidentiality designations are valid,” said the plaintiffs’ response Tuesday (docket 1:19-cv-07190) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago.

Citing “suspect timing” of plaintiffs’ May 1 notice of voluntary dismissal in a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) lawsuit, defendant Nexstar Media asked the court to hold the dismissal in abeyance, in a Tuesday response (docket 1:23-cv-01050) in U.S. District Court for Central Illinois in Peoria.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should grant Consumers’ Research’s request for a rehearing of its challenge of the FCC’s USF 2021 Q4 contribution factor because the authority to decide taxing and spending policies can't be "delegated,” said the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Free State Foundation in an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 21-3886).

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

SiriusXM removed to U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco a fraud class action that alleges the company falsely advertises its music plans at lower prices than it actually charges. Pro se plaintiffs Ayana Stevenson and David Ambrose filed the lawsuit April 14 in California Superior Court for Contra Costa County.

Microsoft and experience management company Qualtrics “repeatedly and systematically” violated patients’ healthcare privacy rights on the Kaiser Permanente website by intercepting and collecting data, alleged plaintiff “Jane Doe” in a Monday class action (docket 2:23-cv-00718) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.

Plaintiffs EDN Global and its CEO, Jerome Edmondson, are seeking a “do-over,” trying to “plead around” a contract at the heart of a fraud claim against AT&T Global Services, said the defendant in a Friday memorandum (docket 3:23-cv-00355) in support of its amended motion to dismiss in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas.

Plaintiffs Dean Nasca and Michelle Nasca filed a motion (docket MDL 3047) Friday to vacate the April 20 conditional transfer order No. 7 (CTO-7) pursuant to Rule 7.1(f) of the Rules of Procedure for the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation in their negligence lawsuit against TikTok parent ByteDance. CTO-7 would conditionally transfer Nasca v. ByteDance (docket 2:23-cv-02786) to Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation pending before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.

T-Mobile wants the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to stay or hold in abeyance its review of the California Public Utilities Commission’s USF contribution overhaul until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolves the carrier’s appeal of the district court’s March 31 preliminary injunction denial, said T-Mobile’s motion Monday (docket 3:23-cv-00483). T-Mobile telegraphed its intentions to seek the stay, over the CPUC’s objections, in a joint case management statement May 4 (see 2305040077).

Mutual of Omaha hired a third-party vendor to sell Medicare supplemental insurance coverage through unwanted phone solicitations, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, alleged plaintiff Michael Van Baalen’s April 3 state court complaint, removed Friday by Mutual of Omaha to U.S. District Court for New Mexico in Albuquerque. Mutual disputes all of Van Baalen’s allegations, believes the complaint lacks any merit, and denies that Van Baalen “has been harmed in any way,” said its notice of removal (docket 1:23-cv-00416).