ORDER NO. 97-168
ENTERED MAY 12 1997
This is an electronic copy. Appendices not included.
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
OF OREGON
UT 138
UT 139
| In the Matter of the Investigation into the Compliance Tariffs filed by U S WEST Communications, Inc., Advice No. 1661. ) | ) ) |
| In the Matter of the Investigation into the Compliance Tariffs filed by GTE Northwest Incorporated, Advice No. 589. | ) PROTECTIVE ORDER ) |
On May 9, 1997, U S WEST Communications, Inc., (USWC) and GTE Northwest Incorporated (GTE) filed a joint petition for adoption of a protective order in these consolidated dockets pursuant to OAR 860-012-0035 and Rule 36(c) of the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure. In support of the petition, USWC and GTE state that the Commission Staff and competitor intervenor parties will demand disclosure of proprietary and confidential research and commercial information, including marketing information, business plans and cost data. Petitioners assert that unprotected disclosure of trade secret information will result in clearly defined and serious injury.
Good cause exists to issue a protective order in these consolidated proceedings. USWC and GTE affirm that the information in question is the product of significant market analysis and development effort and cannot be easily duplicated or acquired by others. The information is valuable to competitors and could be used to their economic advantage. USWC and GTE take special measures to safeguard the secrecy of the information. Unprotected disclosure could result in substantial monetary loss.
IT IS ORDERED that the Standard Protective Order, attached as Appendix A, shall govern disclosure of confidential information in these dockets. For each item produced under the protective order, the disclosing party shall differentiate confidential matter from non-confidential matter. In addition, the protective order shall include the following provisions:
(a) Any physical media containing computer software that are delivered to a party pursuant to a discovery request and that are designated confidential shall be returned to the designating party at the conclusion of the litigation. The party receiving the media shall sign a certificate affirming that the programming on the media has been erased from any storage facility internal to such party’s own computer facilities, and
(b) Any verbal descriptions of internal features of any models designated confidential pursuant to the protective order shall also be considered trade secrets subject to the protective order.
Parties agreeing to be bound by the terms of the protective order shall sign the signatory page attached as Appendix B.
Made, entered and effective ____________________________ .
____________________________
Samuel Petrillo
Administrative Law Judge