[4569] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] L.A. Times: Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable: Say
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (PRIVACY Forum mailing list)
Thu Feb 13 14:57:20 2014
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 11:31:55 -0800
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L.A. Times: Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable: Say goodbye to the public interest
http://j.mp/1bsLMku (L.A. Times)
Let's get to the bottom line. There's no way this combination can
conceivably be in the public interest. The deal is a blunt challenge
to the Federal Communications Commission and its new chairman, Tom
Wheeler; the question is whether the FCC will fold against the
economic and political power of these two behemoths. As the leading
provider of Internet services to American homes, Comcast has already
shown that it's not above using its effective near-monopoly on
Internet connectivity in its service area to stifle competitors. The
FCC slapped its wrist after it was caught engaging in this illicit
behavior in 2007, but then inexplicably waved through Comcast's
acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011. The acquisition of Time Warner
Cable will simply expand the geographical area subject to its ruthless
competitive practices. (Comcast is committed to adhering to standards
of net neutrality, which forbid its discriminating among Web services
in carrying them to subscribers' homes, until January 2018. That was a
condition of the NBCUniversal deal, but after that date the shackles
are off.)
- - -
A Comcast VP was also quoted today as saying: ""We're certainly not
promising that customer bills are going to go down or even increase
less rapidly ..." Gee, what a surprise. Like Dracula saying, "I'm
not promising this isn't about sucking you dry of blood."
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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