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Judge Tosses Telco Suit Over City-Owned Network

Posted by kdawson on from the why-not-sue-the-state-for-building-roads dept.

tsa sends along news of the city of Monticello, Minnesota, which was sued by their local telco, Bridgewater Telephone Company, because the city chose to build a fiber optics network of their own. The judge dismissed their complaint of competition by a governmental organization. Quoting: "The judge's ruling is noteworthy for two things: (1) the judge's complete dismissal of Bridgewater Telephone Company's complaint and (2) his obvious anger at the underfunding of Minnesota's state courts. Indeed, the longest footnote in the opinion is an extended jeremiad about how much work judges are under and why it took so long to decide this case."

3 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Costly Waste of Time by SneakyMishkin · · Score: 5, Informative

    You had better take a look at this http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/06/13/canadapostups.html. UPS didn't WANT to compete, they wanted to sue. Just like everyone else.

  2. I'm surprised... by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Informative

    Usually a smart telco doesn't sue, they simply bribe the legislature into restricting their municipal competition (bottom of page).

    (Basically, Comcast and Qwest bribed the Utah legislature into stopping their multi-muni competitor, UTOPIA, in Utah. The Utah ACLU's letter against such action is here: http://www.acluutah.org/utopia.htm)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  3. Re:Costly Waste of Time by Locklin · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's called loser-pays. We have it up here in Canada, that and less lawsuits.

    --
    "Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom