L.A. Judge Mulls A La Carte Lawsuit's Fate

US District Court Judge Christina Snyder may let a case move forward challenging the lack of a la carte programming available to cable and satellite consumers. In a June 16 statement, she said she will consider the case further but added she is not persuaded by the motion by defendants who argued on procedural grounds that attorneys for the consumers have not made a proper claim for the court to adjudicate. A group of consumers from California, Indiana, Virginia and New York filed the lawsuit Dec. 3, alleging that the programming deals between major content providers including defendants NBC Universal, Viacom Inc., The Walt Disney Co., and Fox Entertainment Group Inc., and distributors including Time Warner Inc., Comcast Corp., The DirecTV Group, Echostar Satellite LLC, Charter Communications Inc. and Cablevision Systems Inc. violate federal antitrust laws.
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