The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the Federal Communications Commission violated the free-speech rights of cable companies by limiting what they could own without proving that such restrictions were needed. The three-judge panel sent the rules back to the FCC for revisions or elimination, presenting its new Republican leadership with its first opportunity to review regulations drafted when the agency was headed by Democrats. The court's decision came as huge companies seek to control not only the production of entertainment programs but also the pipelines for distribution. The FCC has tried to set limits but analysts expect the new Republican FCC chairman, Michael K. Powell, to use the court-ordered review to relax the rules. Powell began his term by outlining an agenda that focuses on streamlining regulations, and he has been a critic of ownership limits.
Similar rules cap the number of stations that television broadcasters can own.
Levin was a chief of staff under a previous FCC chairman, Democrat Reed E. Hundt. An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the court's decision, saying the opinion was still under review at the agency. The cable industry welcomed the ruling. A spokesman for the National Cable Television Association said cable companies consider antitrust laws, not FCC rules, to be the appropriate method for dealing with anti-competitive behavior. At the center of yesterday's case are two rules the FCC adopted to limit consolidation in the cable industry.