money.cnn.com/2005/06/27/technology/broadband_ruling -> money.cnn.com/2005/06/27/technology/broadband_ruling/
View results NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The US Supreme Court on Monday overturned a prio r ruling that required cable operators to open up their high-speed Inter net lines to rivals. At issue in the case, FCC v Brand X, was whether cable operators should be required under federal law to lease their cable lines to competitors, much the way local phone companies were forced years ago to open up the ir lines to long-distance phone companies. The justices overturned the US appeals court ruling by a 6-3 vote. In a separate case Monday, the court ruled that software companies can be held liable for copyright infringement when individuals use their techn ology to download songs and movies illegally. The unanimous decision handed the music and movie industries a crucial vi ctory in their battle to curb Internet piracy but it was a big blow to t echnology companies.
In appealing to the Supreme Court in the Brand X case, the government and cable companies argued the US appeals court had not extended the requ ired deference to the FCC's expertise and decision-making process. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed in the majority opinion that the appeals c ourt had erred. Justices Antonin Scalia, David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
Research), consumer rights groups, and a host of local gove rnments. The case, which turned on the technical classification of cable modem ser vices under federal communications law, has been described as crucial to the future of competition in the market of high-speed, or broadband, In ternet service -- including how fast broadband service becomes available , what features it has, and what it costs consumers.
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