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Judge rules wireless carriers don't violate law by tying handset sales to services

The nation's five largest wireless carriers don't engage in antitrust practices by persuading customers to buy certain handsets to subscribe to their services, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote tossed out a group of five lawsuits brought by wireless phone customers who claimed that since 1998 the companies had unlawfully tied the sale of handsets to the sale of wireless services.

In the ruling issued last week, Cote wrote that the plaintiffs had not provided proof that any defendant had the marketing power necessary to damage competition in the U.S. cellular phone market by using the practice.

The carriers are AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless LLC, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Sprint Spectrum LP.

The judge also noted that all except AT&T said in court briefs that they did not tie the sale of handsets to the sale of wireless service.

The lawsuits were filed in April 2002 by customers who said the defendants had, in effect, created a monopoly.

The judge noted the Federal Communications Commission had repeatedly described the wireless market as competitive. Verizon's market share was the largest at 24 percent, while the other four companies held 8 to 18 percent, Cote said.

The FCC permitted Cingular and AT&T Wireless to merge in part because it concluded that the other companies could resist any exercise of power by the new company, the judge said.

Calls to the plaintiff's attorney seeking comment were not immediately returned Wednesday.

One day, Kevin Cate hopes to work in television. For now, he settled for a shot hosting an Internet TV show.

Cate, 22, of Tampa, won an online vote to be a CyberJockey for a day on ManiaTV, a Web site featuring music videos and other content aimed at college students and young adults.

Cate, who graduated from Auburn University in May, says he used his music connections from his days in a college band, including getting a plug on the Web site for the popular band Weezer, to win.

The Internet and college students are a natural combination. ManiaTV, headquartered in Denver and claiming 1.6-million viewers a month, teamed with another site popular with college students, Thefacebook.com, a social directory, for the contest.

And for Cate, who was a member of a college band called Kicking Howard, the Internet was a gateway for the music.

"Everything we ever (did) had to do with connections that were gained through the Internet," Cate said. "It would be virtually impossible for a small-town college band like we were to play as many shows as we did," including in New York.

ManiaTV gave Cate a crash course on being a CJ, then turned him loose on the Web on Aug. 25, 26 and 27. Cate does have some broadcast background. His father, Keith, is a news anchor/reporter for WFLA-Ch. 8.

"It was pretty awesome," Cate said. "Everyone out there was so cool."

In fact, it went so well that Cate is talking to the site about a job.

More and more people are using their cell phones to play games, but Nintendo is betting that game lovers won't mind carrying a separate cell phone-size device if it's hip.

The GameBoy Micro ($99), which is 4 inches wide, 2 inches long and just more than a half-inch thick, has the same power and speed as a full-size GameBoy Advance. The image on its 2-inch screen is as razor-sharp as a GameBoy display has ever been.

The 3-ounce device, which is to be available Sept. 19 at electronics and toy stores, comes in silver or black, with three removable face plates (in psychedelic flame, ladybug and camouflage patterns).

It features a pleasantly loose directional pad as well as responsive Start and Select buttons that glow neon blue, and it comes with a standard audio jack, so you can listen to your victims scream through a set of noise-isolating headphones.

Moreover, the Micro plays all 700 GameBoy Advance titles. Its big brother, the Nintendo DS, has had trouble competing with the Sony PlayStation Portable, but the Micro may remind gamers in the market for a truly tiny device why they liked Nintendo so much in the first place.

Yahoo Inc., the most-visited Web site, added a feature that lets its e-mail users search the contents of files attached to messages, offering a function that America Online, Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. haven't introduced.

The new software searches e-mails and attachments and displays excerpts and links to relevant files, Drew Garcia, a senior product manager at Yahoo, said. The product also can search for photo files, he said.

The new feature heightens competition between Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Time Warner Inc.'s America Online unit, which all offer free e-mail. The companies are introducing new e-mail features such as advanced search and expanded storage as they vie to create brand loyalty among Web surfers.

"The mailbox could eventually become the feeding tube for all of your content," allowing delivery of audio and video files that users are interested in, said Allen Weiner, an analyst with Gartner Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. plans to start selling its first wearable music player in stores in October, about a year after rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. launched its own version.

The new device includes enough storage capacity for up to 50 hours of recorded Sirius content or audio files. Unlike XM's portable device, MyFi, Sirius' product will not be able to receive satellite signals on the go and must be plugged into a docking station. But, at roughly the size of Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod music player, Sirius' s50 is a bit smaller than XM's MyFi. The s50 will sell for $360.

The move comes as satellite radio players try to expand from the car-radio market. Both Sirius and XM have online streaming music services and "plug and play" devices that let users hook up to Sirius both in their cars and in their homes.

Sirius, of New York, ended the second quarter with 1.8-million subscribers, with most coming from in-store sales rather than from the automotive market. With more-than-expected additions in the second quarter, Sirius raised its 2005 subscriber view to 3-million. The company also said it expects to make a profit in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The British Broadcasting Corp. is planning to let Web users download its television and radio programs up to a week after they have aired.

BBC director general Mark Thompson said he hoped the "MyBBCPlayer" service could be active by 2006.

Complete details weren't released, and Thompson did not say whether the BBC would charge users a fee for the downloads or how it would prevent piracy and circulation beyond the week.

The plan is part of the BBC's efforts to move beyond traditional forms of media.

"I accept the premise that if the BBC remains nothing more than a traditional TV and radio broadcaster then we probably won't deserve or get license-fee funding beyond 2016," Thompson said at Edinburgh International Television Festival. "That is very definitely not our plan."

More technology news. More links to interesting sites. More discussion of the tech issues of the day. Join Times personal technology editor Dave Gussow at the Tech Times blog (www.sptimes.com/blogs/tech) where he posts regular updates. Readers are invited to post comments and questions there as well.

Compiled from staff and wire reports.

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 11:24:03]