Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc

Text (OCR of the scan at left; may contain errors)

IN THE MATTER OF E1\CYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC., ET AL.

Docket 8908. Order, Mar. , 1976 Denial of respondents' motion to reopen the record and proceeding$ to afford them opportunity to conduct discovery upon and defend against non-record secret facts, information and/or evidence.

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO REOPEN RECORD AKD PROCEEDINGS Respondents have moved that we reopen the record and proceedings in the above-styled matter to afford Britannica the opportunity " conduct discovery upon and defend against the non-record secret facts information and/or evidence that are being considered by this Commission in reaching its decision" in this appeal. The motion arises out of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by respondents. In midst of the adjudicative proceedings, respondents fied with the Secretary of the Commission a Freedom of Information Act request for the Analytical Program Guide for the Direct Sellng Industry and other related documents. The Secretary released part of the materials requested, and the respondents appealed to the Commission the Secretary s denial of further access to the documents. The Commission reviewed the matter, as it was required to do under the applicable provisions of the Commission s Rules of Practice 1 which were promulgated pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.' The Commission also fied, pursuant to the order of the U.S. District Court (N.D. Il), a "Revised Index and Justify',ation for Withholding Documents," The Revised Index characterizes some of the documents as "pre-decisional communications " a term utilzed by the Supreme Court to describe non-evidentiary documents which were exempt because they were "deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated. NLRB v. Sears Roebuck Co. 421 U.S. 132, 158 (1975). Citing the Commission Freedom of Information Act review and its use of the descriptions pre-decisional communications" in the Revised Index, the respondents contend that the Commission has utilized the documents in the decision-making process in this adjudicative matter. This motion is plainly without merit. The Commission has based its determinations and order in this matter solely upon the record compiled in Dkt. No. 8908. Accordingly, 'Section4, 11(aJ(2).

I 5U. C. 52(c)(6)(A)(i;).

EN"Y"LOPAEDIA BRITANKI"A INC. ET AL. 377 376 Order It is ordered That respondents' motion to reopen the record and proceedings in the above-styled matter be, and it hereby is, denied. 216-96G O- LT - 77 - 25 Order 87 F.