"Andrew Bridges with Fenwick West in San Francisco submitted an amicus brief to Hanks on Friday on behalf of the Internet Association, the Internet Infrastructure Coalition and the Internet Society and several other groups.
The Internet Association is composed of 40 leading internet companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon; the Internet Infrastructure Coalition represents tech firms "who build the nuts and bolts of the internet," according to its website; and the Internet Society is a nongovernment organization headquartered in Virginia and Switzerland with more than 80,000 members in over 150 countries that facilitates global coordination of internet standards.
Bridges said on Monday that although Judge Hanks did not formally accept the friend-of-the-court brief into the case record, he believes it played a part in Hanks' decision to deny the states an injunction.
"Whether the judge accepts or denies our amicus brief is sort of moot. We believe that the judge got and read our amicus brief before the hearing and that's what was important. So what happens formally at this point probably doesn't matter much. I think the case is basically over," Bridges said in a phone interview.
He added, "This whole case was a political attempt to stop the transition that occurred at midnight Friday night. That transition has now occurred so it's not possible to stop it any longer.""
- Date Published:10/03/2016
- Original Publication:Courthouse News Service