The Supreme Court this fall will review a lower court ruling that found AT&T was charging ISPs wholesale prices that were too high to allow them to compete with AT&T in the retail market.
AT&T says it has no obligation to deal with ISPs and wants the suit thrown out. It sought Supreme Court intervention after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in favor of LinkLine Communications, which filed the suit. LinkLine buys high-speed service from AT&T, combines it with other services and sells the package in direct competition with AT&T. The appeals court said that federal courts have recognized such price squeeze allegations for six decades.
The Appeals Court allowed the lawsuit--originally filed against Pacific Bell--to move forward in federal court last year.
For more:
- See the InformationWeek story
- and this Ars tecnica piece
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