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Maine s A La Carte Cable Law Scrapped After 1st Circ. Loss
Law360 (April 26, 2021, 6:34 PM EDT) A Maine federal judge permanently blocked a contentious state law requiring cable providers to sell service for channels individually, rather than all-or-nothing bundles, after the industry prevailed in the First Circuit on free speech grounds.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen handed down an order for permanent injunctive relief three days after Comcast of Maine/New Hampshire Inc. and the state attorney general reached a formal agreement to end the case.
Comcast had challenged the consumer protection statute, known as the a la carte channel law, mainly on two prongs: that telling a cable provider how to sell TV content ran afoul of.
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Cable Cos. Can Make You Pay For Certain Channels: 1st Circ.
Law360 (February 24, 2021, 9:33 PM EST) The First Circuit on Wednesday ruled that Maine can t force cable companies to unbundle channels and content, upholding a federal court injunction blocking a state law that the court said runs afoul of cable companies First Amendment rights.
The Pine Tree State s 2019 law required cable operators to let consumers purchase cable channels and programs individually. Comcast of Maine/New Hampshire Inc. and several other big-name networks, including CBS Corp., Disney Enterprises Inc., Viacom Inc. and A&E Television Networks challenged the legislation in Maine federal court shortly before it was set to take effect.