U.S. judge ends decades-old movie theater rules set by Hollywood studios - CNBC

District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said the Department of Justice "offered a reasonable and persuasive explanation" for why terminating the consent decrees would "serve the public interest in free and unfettered competition.".

Last November, the Justice Department moved to end the decrees, enacted after the Supreme Court in 1948 said Hollywood's biggest studios had illegally monopolized the movie distribution and theater industries.

New rules made it illegal for studios to unreasonably limit how many theaters could show movies in specific geographic areas.

The Justice Department said the decrees were no longer needed after multiplexes, broadcast and cable TV, DVDs and the internet changed how people watch movies, and because studios no longer dominated movie theater ownership.

Critics have said terminating the decrees could threaten the survival of smaller theater owners.

The Justice Department has in recent months moved to end dozens of consent decrees it considers obsolete.