Cox Antitrust Trial Scheduled To Start Oct. 13
A class-action lawsuit alleging Cox Communications violated antitrust laws when it forced customers to rent a Cox set-top box with their premium-tier cable packages is scheduled to start Oct. 13 before U.S. District Court Judge Robin Cauthron in Oklahoma City.…
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The suit involves more than 20 different lawsuits filed since 2009 and combined into one and transferred to the Oklahoma court. According to court documents, a plaintiff's expert estimated classwide damages at more than $49 million. Cox responded that Premium Cable customers could buy all those same premium-tier services from a variety of other providers, such as AT&T, Dish Network and DirecTV (which now is part of AT&T), and customers can use off-the-shelf set-top boxes like Moxi or TiVo for some Cox services such as premium channels. While set-tops that could provide VOD or pay per view were generally not available in the Oklahoma market, that wasn't Cox’s fault, the cable company said. The trial is expected to last roughly four weeks, according to court documents.