Associated Press

LOUISVILLE — A group of customers is suing Lexington's cable television provider over the rental fees they pay for digital converter boxes.

The customers argue in the federal lawsuit that Insight Communications should allow subscribers to shop around for a box they can buy in order to eliminate a monthly $15.95 charge for premium services.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville, is seeking to become a class action. It alleges Insight is violating antitrust law by forcing subscribers to pay "inflated" monthly rental fees for the box.

"If you or I could buy this cable box from Radio Shack or what have you, hook it up in our home and it would work, then there would be a marketplace driven by supply and demand," and prices would fall, Matt White, attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Courier-Journal of Louisville.

There are similar suits pending around the country that contend cable companies sign exclusive deals with box manufacturers so consumers can't walk into an electronics store and buy their own boxes.

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