Supreme Court to hear antitrust case Trinko v. Verizon

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Daniel Berninger <dan () PULVER COM>
Reply-To: Telecom Regulation & the Internet
<CYBERTELECOM-L () LISTSERV AOL COM>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 15:05:54 -0500
To: CYBERTELECOM-L () LISTSERV AOL COM
Subject: Supreme Court to hear antitrust case Trinko v. Verizon

The Supreme Court agreed to hear antitrust case Trinko v. Verizon.

The case got dismissed at pleading and reinstated on appeal.  Verizon
asserts as AT&T did in the 70's that the existence of regulations gives them
antitrust immunity.

See article below.

Dan

> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Reuters
Top Court to Hear Verizon Antitrust Appeal
Monday March 10, 11:20 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would decide
whether dominant local telephone companies can be sued for damages by
upstart rivals and consumers under antitrust laws for poor or delayed access
to local networks.

The high court agreed to hear an appeal by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ -
News), the biggest U.S. local telephone carrier, in a case that could open
the company to lawsuits by rivals that claim problems obtaining access to
the dominant network.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act requires giant local carriers like Verizon
to make their networks available to rivals to give consumers a choice of
providers. In exchange, the big companies would gain access to the lucrative
long-distance voice and data markets.

The U.S. Appeals Court for the Second Circuit ruled last June that a
consumer could sue Verizon for triple damages under the antitrust laws for
service delays. Verizon told the high court the decision conflicted with a
previous decision by another appeals court.

<snip>

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030310/court_telecoms_3.html


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