Belton v. Comcast Cable Holdings LLC.

Summary

        1st District California Court of Appeal, Division 1

        Larry Hall, who is blind, and Thomas Belton (plaintiffs) subscribed to services provided by Comcast Cable Holdings LLC. (Comcast). They took issue with Comcast's offering FM or music services only as part of a basic cable tier package that included television cable service. Plaintiffs alleged they were forced to purchase unwanted cable service in order to access the music. They appealed from the summary judgment in favor of Comcast with respect to their causes of action for unfair competition and violation of the Unruh Act.

        Affirmed. Business and Professions Code Section 17200 prohibits unfair competition in the form of unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent practices. Here, Comcast's requirement that subscribers purchase the basic cable tier did not constitute a tying arrangement that unlawfully curbed competition because neither plaintiff wanted or would have purchased the tied cable service. Comcast's allegedly unlawful practice thus could not have foreclosed competition with other sellers in the market. Nor could plaintiffs characterize the conditional provision of music services as "negative option billing," as both understood they were purchasing a package and were not billed for any service they did not order. With regard to the Unruh Act, cable services are not a public accommodation, precluding Hall's showing denial of access under the American with Disabilities Act. Lastly, in the absence of some restraint upon competition, plaintiffs could not prove Comcast's packaging of services was "unfair."

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