Jury: Cox illegally forced customers into renting its set-top box

A federal jury in Oklahoma has awarded $6.31 million to a group of cable TV customers after it found that Cox Communications broke federal antitrust law. Cox unfairly forced customers to rent its set-top box as a condition of receiving premium cable service, the jury ruled. Refusing the box meant being unable to access Cox's interactive channel guide and on-demand video, according to the original complaint. Not only did tying premium service to set-top boxes limit features for subscribers who wanted to use third-party boxes, but Cox unfairly profited from customers who rented its own set-top box (and may have been forced into the decision against their will), according to the class action. A congressional probe in 2015 found that consumers pay more than $230 a year renting set-top boxes from their cable companies.

"Even if Cox purchases set-top boxes for only $200, Cox's monthly rental fee of at least $6.99 in its Oklahoma City market will surpass $200 in less than two years and five months," the complaint read, "leaving Cox with a minimum of 2.5 years of pure profits and consumers with a substantial loss." Cox argued that it didn't force customers into doing anything they didn't want to do, noting that Dish and DirecTV are both available in the region. It also pointed to other set-top boxes such as TiVo that could provide an alternative to the Cox equipment. But the jury ultimately decided in the subscribers' favor. Despite the ruling, Cox officials are "gratified that the jury recognized most of the damages plaintiffs were seeking were unwarranted." The company is trying to get the verdict overturned.