FCC gains cable-competition victory - WSJ.com

May 26, 2009

WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court says cable companies cannot have exclusive rights to provide service in apartment buildings that they wire.

The decision Tuesday from the Court of Appeals in Washington upholds a Federal Communications Commission ruling that banned the exclusive agreements as anticompetitive.

The deals involved a company exchanging a valuable service such as wiring a multiunit building for cable in exchange for the exclusive right to provide service to all the residents...