In the Courts

Mediacom and the IA Cable & Telecom Assoc filed suit against the US Agriculture Dept over its broadband loan program. Cable’s main gripe is that the grants and loans are funding systems in communities that already have competitive high-speed ‘Net. "We strongly support the goal of bringing high-speed Internet service to unserved areas and we know there are places where the govt should step in to fill a legitimate void. But in this program, many voids remain unfilled because tax dollars have been redirected to areas where consumers already benefit from competition and choice in broadband service," said Ed Pardini, Mediacom svp for the North Central Division. — Cartoon and CNN joined the list of content providers suing Cablevision over its planned network DVR service. The 2 filed suit Fri, claiming that the tech infringes on copyrights. Cartoon and CNN’s sibling Time Warner Cable explored the possibility of network DVR through its since abandoned Mystro TV project. The Turner nets’ suit came 1 day after several studios, including Twentieth Century Fox, filed a similar complaint. CVC said that lawsuit was without merit, adding that the studios fail to understand how the tech works.