Unfit for Prime Time: Why Cable Television Regulations Cannot Perform Trinko's 'Antitrust Function'

Authors

Keith Klovers, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Until recently, regulation and antitrust law operated in tandem to safeguard competition in regulated industries. In three recent decisions-Trinko, Credit Suisse, and Linkline-the Supreme Court limited the operation of the antitrust laws when regulation "performs the antitrust function." This Note argues that cable programming regulations-which are in some respects factually similar to the telecommunications regulations at issue in Trinko and Linkline-do not perform the antitrust function because they cannot deter anticompetitive conduct. As a result, Trinko and its siblings should not foreclose antitrust claims for damages that arise out of certain cable programming disputes.

Recommended Citation

Keith Klovers, Unfit for Prime Time: Why Cable Television Regulations Cannot Perform Trinko's 'Antitrust Function', 110 Mich. L. Rev. 489 (2011).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol110/iss3/3