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Michael Bloomberg built his estimated $16 billion fortune thanks to Bloomberg LP, the financial news provider he founded in 1981. Thirty years later, it is now one of the most lucrative media operations on the planet. Banks and large corporations pay $1,250 a month for each Bloomberg terminal that's installed in its office. There are no discounts available and the company never engages in price negotiations. And while Bloomberg faces competition from the likes of Reuters and Dow Jones, neither company has been able to successfully dislodge the grip that Bloomberg has on the financial media marketplace. No wonder. Getting Bloomberg to cancel your monthly subscription is about as easy as getting Columbia House to stop billing your credit card for those "free" DVDs it insists on sending you every month, even after you've called the 1-800 number a dozen times to complain.

Last fall, Chicago-based money manager Bruce Ovitz tried to get rid of his Bloomberg terminal. But he ran into an extraordinary amount of trouble getting the company to terminate his contract. Bloomberg first informed him that he wasn't entitled to cancel and since the contract was set up to automatically renew, he wouldn't even be able to cancel the contract even after it expired. He tried to get the company to come pick up the machine, but didn't have any luck on that front. And when he pressed the matter and said he wouldn't continue paying his monthly subscription fees if the company didn't provide him with an out, he says Bloomberg started bullying him, threatening him with legal action and vowing to ruin his credit.

Ovitz has since filed a class action lawsuit against Bloomberg and last week he scored a victory when a judge denied a motion by the media giant to dismiss the case, ruling that Ovitz could proceed on the grounds Bloomberg's actions violated New York State consumer statutes. (The judge did, however, dismiss claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment.) Barring a settlement of some sort, it now looks like Ovitz—and anyone else who joins the class action suit—will get their day in court. A few relevant bits from the judge's ruling and the full decision are below.

This image was lost some time after publication.
This image was lost some time after publication.
This image was lost some time after publication.

The full suit is embedded below: