Court case

Charter Communications is appealing a court ruling that said the ISP must face a lawsuit alleging the company falsely promised fast Internet speeds that Charter knew it could not deliver. Charter claims that federal regulations, including the recent repeal of net neutrality rules, preempts the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against Charter and its Time Warner Cable (TWC) subsidiary in February 2017. The New York Supreme Court rejected Charter's motion to dismiss the case on February 16, but Charter is appealing the decision in a state appellate court.

[Commentary] The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pivotal antitrust case involving American Express (“AmEx”). The decision could have a profound impact on the way platform-based companies such as Google and AmEx will be treated under the law. Some of the Court's questioning was truly impressive, showing knowledge of both economics and the inner workings of credit card markets. Other questions? Not so much. Before pointing out the uneconomic utterances, let’s quickly review the case. Credit card companies make money two ways.

A federal appeals court ruled the Federal Trade Commission can move forward with its lawsuit alleging AT&T misled wireless subscribers by reducing data speeds for several million customers who thought they had purchased unlimited plans. The ruling by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals is a notable win for the FTC because it restores the agency’s regulatory authority over large internet service providers.

The Supreme Court is set to hear a case that could have far-reaching implications for law enforcement access to digital data and for US companies that store customer emails in servers overseas. What began as a challenge by tech giant Microsoft to a routine search warrant for a suspected drug dealer’s emails has become a marquee case over data access in the Internet age. At issue is whether a US company must comply with a court order to turn over emails, even if they are held abroad — in this case in a Dublin server.

When US District Court Judge Richard Leon hears the U.S. government’s lawsuit to stop the merger of AT&T and Time Warner, he will be deciding not just one media deal but two. Not only can his decision allow one blockbuster merger, but it could also lead to the unwinding of a second. After President Donald Trump and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, the person who will most closely watch the case will be Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast. If Judge Leon approves the deal, Roberts will likely lob in another bid for the assets that 21st Century Fox agreed to sell to Disney.

[Analysis] Can states force Internet service providers to uphold net neutrality? That's one of the biggest unanswered questions raised by the Federal Communications Commission vote to repeal its net neutrality rules. After the FCC vote, lawmakers in more than half of US states introduced bills to protect net neutrality in their states.

A federal judge has ruled against AT&T in its effort to force the Justice Department to reveal whether President Donald Trump inappropriately interfered with a regulatory review of the telecommunication company's $85 billion Time Warner merger.  The ruling from Judge Richard Leon rejects AT&T's argument that the government has singled out the company for special scrutiny. The move blocks an attempt by AT&T to draw Trump into the legal battle by raising questions as to what, if any, pressure he may have placed on antitrust regulators to stop the acquisition.

The Justice Department (DOJ) acknowledged that while President Donald Trump doesn’t like CNN, his unhappiness with the media outlet did not influence a federal antitrust case. “The president is unhappy with CNN. We don’t dispute that,” Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath said at a pretrial hearing. “But AT&T wants to turn that into a get-out-jail-free card for their illegal merger.” The DOJ is trying to prevent the political argument from becoming part of the case. He also argued that CNN is not key to the government's opposition of the deal.

AT&T is demanding that the Justice Department hand over additional evidence to prove that President Donald Trump did not wield political influence over the agency as its antitrust enforcers reviewed the company's bid to acquire Time Warner. DOJ should produce a log of any conversations that may have transpired between the White House and Attorney General Jeff Sessions pertaining to AT&T's $85 billion merger, the company argued before a federal judge. Separately, DOJ should also be required, AT&T said, to disclose any conversations between AG Sessions and the agency's antitrust d

Charter Communications cannot use the federal network neutrality repeal to avoid a lawsuit over slow Internet speeds in New York, the state's Supreme Court ruled. The lawsuit was filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against Charter and its Time Warner Cable (TWC) subsidiary in Feb 2017.