In the Courts

The city of Carlsbad, CA, filed a federal suit Mon against Time Warner Cable, alleging that the MSO has been operating without a valid franchise agreement since Nov. In recompense, the city is seeking all of the MSO’s gross revenue derived from city services over the last 9 months. Time Warner Cable declined comment. Disagreement between the parties stems from state video franchising law, enacted in Jan. It says incumbent cable ops with expiring local licenses may petition the state’s PUC for a statewide license in ’08, or apply any time for areas not currently served. What remains unclear is protocol for local agreements that expire prior to next year. — Remember the claims made earlier this month by the now-incarcerated Adelphia founder John Rigas that no fraud was committed at the MSO, at least not by the Rigas family (Cfax, 8/7)? Well, son James Rigas echoed those assertions Thurs after former Adelphia auditor Deloitte & Touche dropped all charges against the family. "Having spent four years defending against Deloitte’s baseless claims, we believe we are entitled to a full trial where the pubic will finally see what actually happened at Adelphia," said Rigas, whose counsel is requesting the court to strike Deloitte’s discontinuance.