The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by entering into a series of vertical agreements that required the distributors to
sell cable television channels only in prepackaged bundles and prohibited sale to consumers on an «a la carte» or unbundled basis.
And if all that weren't enough, the Canadian Radio -
television and Telecommunications Commission decreed last fall that long - standing policies governing how
cable companies bundle and
sell channels will be replaced with more consumer - oriented «pick and play» rules.