NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] [IP] Comcast: Nobody 'Rational, Knowledgeable' Opposes Our Merger
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2014 23:17:29 -0400 From: Dave Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] Comcast: Nobody 'Rational, Knowledgeable' Opposes Our Merger Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@listbox.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Dewayne Hendricks* <dewayne@warpspeed.com> Date: Saturday, April 5, 2014 Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Comcast: Nobody 'Rational, Knowledgeable' Opposes Our Merger To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net@warpspeed.com> Comcast: Nobody 'Rational, Knowledgeable' Opposes Our Merger By Karl Bode Apr 3 2014 < http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Nobody-Rational-Knowledgeable-Opposes-Our-Merger-128397 > Comcast's top lobbyist David Cohen (who skirts lobbying disclosure rules by simply pretending he's not a lobbyist) says he's yet to hear any "rational, knowledgeable voices" objecting to his company's planned $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable. In an interview with CSPAN (see this companion Time article), Cohen again reiterated that the deal would be great for consumers and great for America, as if a man paid to lobby for Comcast would voice any other opinion. Consumer advocates worry that Comcast's size and scale as a dominant player in phone, cable, TV service and content -- will inevitably result in anti-competitive behavior across numerous fronts. Previously, Comcast had tried to argue that the already massive company getting even bigger isn't a problem because they'd be kept in check by Google Fiber and Hulu, despite the fact Google Fiber is barely deployed and Hulu is owned by Comcast/NBC. Now, apparently, it's competitive pressure from wireless that's going to somehow magically keep Comcast on its best behavior: quote: Cohen acknowledges that the deal's implications for the broadband market are "appropriate to think about and discuss," but argues that it's "not a very scary story," due to increasing competition from wireless broadband. "I think it's indisputable today that wireless is certainly beginning to be an effective competitor and substitute for at least many uses of broadband," Cohen said. Given the expensive and heavily-capped nature of wireless, wireless applying any real competitive pressure on Comcast is unlikely; made more unlikely once you realize companies like Verizon are now marketing partners that are in many marketshelping to sell Comcast services. Those concerned that Comcast's scale will result in the use of restrictive licensing and Comcast usage caps to harm Internet video competitors aren't worth listening to, according to Comcast's lobbyist. Cohen took a little time out in the interview to insult countless people and organizations (including Consumer Reports) by stating that nobody rational or knowledgeable is opposing the Comcast merger: [snip] Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/> ------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message ----- --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 _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad