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Comcast-NBC Merger Approved By FCC
AndyAndyAndyAndy writes "It seems that the FCC has approved the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC, effectively kicking apart hopes for protection against 'pipes and their water' frameworks. Pres. Obama's 2008 goal also goes ignored: 'I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group.' The Dept. of Justice is also onboard, leaving little hope that this will be stopped."
Sweet, I cant wait to see the great programs they have to offer
One step closer to a single outfit controlling^Wsupplying all your media needs.
Sent from my PDP-11
Let's just start making all our own content and distributing it by sneaker net and avian protocols. I'm tired of every single damn decision going towards funneling more funds and freedom (for abuse) to the megacorps. We'll hire Kenyans drinking powerthirst to be the runners for the sneakernet version of gmail.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
Big business coming through!
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
I wouldn't suggest downloading any NBC-related torrents on Comcast.. because you know they'll be watching.
And, for the record, I don't condone illegal torrents, but I would merely like to point out the large privacy concern this merger presents.
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
It is in the interest of governments to allow monopolies, it is much easier to order 1 big entity to cough up certain needed information or to force them to execute the government plans, than a lot of small entities.
This revolving door between big corporate US and the government (fascism) is starting to be a real burden on the people, all we have to wait for now is government to draw the wrong cards and finding that in reality their power is more and more subdued by the corporates.
But then, the people lost already 50 years ago when Ike proclaimed his farewell speech, this is just the final stage of that losing battle.
Its President Obama's agency heads who have signed off on this.
The President has to be in favor of it.
So why vote Democrat when they are the ones who do this?
It seems like Obama has betrayed a large fraction of the ideals he stated during his campaign.
What I'd like to know is, during his campaign, did he...
(a) Lie about those ideals, never intending to pursue them?
(b) Tell the truth about what his ideals where, but know he was exaggerating about being able to accomplish all of them?
(c) Intend to achieve them all, but not realize that he could only chose a handful to push through?
(d) Once in office (and with access to all classified info), realize that some of his campaign promises were unwise, although he believed them to be wise at the time?
The answers to these may suggest whether we as citizens need to be more realistic about what's really possible (for example, effective counterintelligence while prosecuting your state torturers), or whether Obama is really just a far worse person than people give him credit for.
leader of their party...
...appointed the current FCC chairman and is responsible for the D majority of the FCC.
leader of their party...
...is the largest recipient of Hollywood campaign contributions in the history of US politics, and is about to embark on a $1E9+ re-election effort. NBCCOMCA$T? No Problem!
Keep drinking the anti-republican cool-aid, numpty. It's helping a lot. But for wise folk such as you we'd really be messed up. Quick, everyone mod this brilliant mofo way the hell up!
"Democrats" and "Republicans" haven't run anything in the United States for at least a few decades.
These terms are only used for betting purposes now. Political power belongs to people for whom limiting terms such as "party" or "ideology" have no meaning.
Today, power is vested with people whose names are not widely known. "Dems" and "Repubs" are little more than handy punching bags that can be blamed for problems so the people in power won't be disturbed.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Really, the Obama Administration has been just a continuation of the Bush Administration. Every time they have had a choice, they have chosen to keep the status quo and to continue to favor large business. This is no exception. The only change we got is in the last name of the POTUS.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
It's both, you pinheads! When are you douchebags going to wise up to the fact that the Democrats AND Republicans are both full of shit, corrupt entities? The right vs. left "fight" is only a diversion to keep you from noticing that the corporations continue to bribe, I mean, lobby their point home with tons of cash for anyone willing to vote their way? You think your vote does anything useful? You're fooling yourself. You think the Tea Party is going to be any different? Good luck, citizens. The corporations call all the shots in this "democracy." Nothing has changed, only the leanings to garner your waste of a vote. Whoever controls the house and senate are meaningless, because they vote the way the corporations tell them to vote. Period.
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
Like that damn liberal Reupert Murdoch
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
. . . heard that. Remember when GE made TVs? Remember when they made other TV equipment (post RCA, per-RCA re-aquisition) like TV cameras, too? Remember when they owned Universal Studios, too? Remember when pundits said GE was going to control the airwaves (as they did when they first owned RCA) and the minds of America? Now, who is selling NBC to Comcast?
Anybody who truly understands the details of what transpired here and who has at least a shred of respect for the truth understand we live in a Kleptocracy.
Weren't you one of the slashdot guys telling us how great the FCC would be at regulating the internet?
..or do you need the FCC to fuck you over a couple more times before you will listen?
We told you that the FCC had no intention of promoting net neutrality, but you didn't fucking listen. The FCC then put forth bullshit neutrality rules that not enforce neutrality.
Now the FCC is condoning the creation of a real neutrality problem (not just one you fucking imagined.)
Are you ready to concede, that the FCC should not to be in charge of regulating the internet?
"His name was James Damore."
It seems it's not - according to TFA, the decision was approved with 4 - 1 votes. Michael Copps was the only one to vote against. I salute him.
Dilbert RSS feed
Its okay to say Pigfarker here, we are on the cable internet...
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
Personally I think both "sides" are bad.
...but at least the leader of their party was opposed to this!
In my opinion, if someone is against it...well saying something and doing something are two different things. I think it is apathy that is to blame. Too many (non tech-"savy") people just say they really do not care that much. Apathy, hell we know those lobbyists are very motivated people. The other problem is ignorance, I mean the internet is a series of tubes right?
...kicking apart hopes for protection against 'pipes and their water' frameworks.
Oh right, pipes. Also from the article:
...the Federal Communications Commission determined the deal was in the nation's public interest...
But having just The Washington Post opinion really is just that. Let's go to the source...
Here are the statements: 1 2 3 4
The news release isn't much better as when reading down to each individual bullet point, I see many comments for "protecting online video", but video is not the only concern!
Offers its video programming to legitimate OVDs on the same terms and
conditions that would be available to an MVPD.
Send chills down your back when you consider the implications of statements like that, doesn't it?
Quote from link 1 above:
The conditions include carefully considered steps to ensure that competition drives
innovation in the emerging online video marketplace.
A nice disclaimer at the front of link 3 above (joint approval):
However interesting and intricate the issues raised by the combination of Comcast and
NBCU may be, as a matter of law, our role at the Commission is limited to ensuring that the
transaction complies with all applicable statutory provisions, such as ensuring that the license
transfers are in the public interest. Our analysis should only include a thorough examination of
the potential benefits and harms of the transaction. Any proposed remedies should be narrow
and transaction specific, tailored to address particular anti-competitive harms. License transfer
approvals should not serve as vehicles to extract from petitioners far-reaching and non-merger
specific policy concessions that are best left to broader rulemaking or legislative processes.
That would be fine if the government actually gave the FCC power, but this is a whole other issue within itself.
From the dissenting opinion, to which I agree: (link 2)
Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal is a transaction like no other that has
come before this Commission—ever. It reaches into virtually every corner of our media
and digital landscapes and will affect every citizen in the land. It is new media as well as
old; it is news and information as well as sports and entertainment; it is distribution as
well as content. And it confers too much power in one company’s hands.
Looking over these public notices on the FCC site I think it must be considered though on what we expected the FCC to do in the first place. If a particular judge thinks a law is stupid, it is not his job to ignore the law. (Constitutionality being a whole oth
We should start a new Slashdot and return control to the geeks. It actually wouldn't be that hard to get some users to
What in the world makes you believe that voting means anything? Supposedly, according to the media (and not just the "mainstream media" but ALL media, left-wing, right-wing, blogs, etc) there have been HUGE ideological swings in the parties in power. We've had republicans running everything and democrats running everything but regardless of the rhetoric, the end result is the same. But don't think it's because there are no difference between the parties. No, it's because the parties, the elections, even the government itself is nothing more than the "circuses" part of "bread and circuses". The whole shooting match is nothing but a distraction. Something to make us feel like we're doing something.
Here you are, puffing out your chest and asserting that "Hell no! I'll not be voting for a Democrat nor a Republican in the next election". And you'll spend time pouring over information, choosing just the right third party or independent candidate who will most closely mirror your worldview. You will march down to the polling place, secure in the belief that you have done some sort of "civic duty". Really, you're passing responsibility from your hands into an invisible system so you can then say "don't blame me, I voted for "X"". The time you spent reading up on the candidates on the issues on the important matters of the day, the time you spent deciding, the time you spent voting will have amounted to nothing. Those in power will not have noticed one bit. It means nothing.
Polls are taken, published, trumpeted by partisan media. People point and say "See? Most of the country agrees with me!" and it will make you feel as though you are "in the right" that you are connected to something that in some way will effect outcomes. The board of directors at General Electric, at Comcast, are as aware of you, of your dreams, your goals, your complaints, your anger and rage as you are of the bacteria that live in the soil in the dirt in the postage-stamp sized bit of grass in front of your house or apartment.
When a tiny percentage of the population own virtually everything and forty percent of the population own zero - not one bit of anything why would you think that this "politics" thing, this thing which is done for your entertainment, to keep you amused and engaged like a 2pm game of Bejeweled is actually going to matter to the people in power?
Geez, I'm a fuckin' ray of sunshine today, ain't I?
You are welcome on my lawn.
I agree with all the posters here that have seen where America is going. It is no longer a multi party democracy. When was the last time Americans had any control of important legislation? Where was the vote on the Health Care Plan that Obama pushed through with his majority vote?
This country no longer is controlled by the citizens. At least at my state level I can vote on certain state initiatives but I did not get a chance to vote on the Health Care Plan and the Health Care Plan will wind up costing me more than any state initiative. Just as Bush was given the green light for going to war from the big defense industry, Obama was given the green light from the health insurance industry, who by the way the health insurance industry will gain the most as the 30 million or so people that don't want insurance or was just managing to put food on the table for their family instead of paying high insurance rates will now be forced to pay high insurance rates and let their family die of starvation.
Obama did not get the chance to design the right health care system for the right one would limit the public health insurance options. There was billions of dollars spent behind doors that we voting Americans will never see. The people in control will never show themselves. They hide behind their money and corporations getting richer and richer all the while our jobs are going overseas, our gas is getting more expensive and the security of our families is going away.
He might say he "strongly favors" this and that, but it's quite likely his power is much more limited than people realize. He's just one man against an entire bureaucracy with established connections between various groups that aren't going to be particularly willing to budge, no matter what he says. For him to make a difference he would have to put his political career on the line and risk significant retribution from those who don't want the change he's after.
For this reason I'm not sure whether to blame Obama just yet. Of course, maybe he was just naive in thinking he could conduct change without any personal risk.
there were rules AGAINST media companies owning one another and cross-media ownership. It seems those days are gone forever. It is very sad that we are allowing so much power to concentrate in so few hands.
Like the inimitable Groucho Marx, I would never join a club that would have me as a member.
Who knew that the purchase of NBC by Kabletown was really Comcast! Life imitates art.
Jack Donaghy would really be mad!
see
http://www.kabletown.com/
see
http://campuswham.com/umasswham/blog/kabletowncomcast-a-kind-and-generous-company-30-rock/2010/03/11/
Downvote this garbage, PLEASE. This is becoming such a tired meme born of cynics who fail to objectively look at the world around them. What the hell did people honestly think was going to happen... that Obama was going to change the world and usher in a utopia to please every libertarian and liberal alike? Jesus people! The president is clearly a moderate and a consensus builder. Despite conservative talking points, there has clearly been a concerted effort to engage conservative and liberal proposals and find something that both find appealing... something lacking the last 8 fucking years! Did we suddenly forget that the previous president stopped engaging other nations, ordered people to be tortured, invaded sovereign nations, passed absolutely NO domestic bills to address any looming problems (healthcare? They had the House/Senate/White House), Guantanamo, lying about weapons of mass destruction, an anti-science agenda actively trying to discredit science findings, ousting CIA agents to discredit them, commuting the sentences administration members who committed crimes, Ordering the NSA to wiretap US civilians... did everyone suddenly get amnesia and forget what the fuck happened during the last 8 years of the Bush administration!?
Jesus Christ, people... I don't approve of everything the Obama administration does but shut the fuck up, please... this "meet the new boss same as the old boss" bullshit is so grating. Yes, Obama is a politician and does politician things. Yes, the Obama administration has continued some of the Bush era prcatices. But there is no fucking way you can objectively sit there and tell me he is anywhere NEAR the level of fuckup the previous president was... he is a massive improvement.
Tell you what, come talk to me when Obama knowingly manufactures evidence to start a war with Iran, discredits everyone who knows he's lying, and pardons Timothy Geithner after he leaks classified information to the press... then punches a baby in the face... then we'll talk about how bad Obama is.
My political take on the situation is that Obama is facing criticism that he isn't "business friendly", and the GOP is using this impression to pin the lingering jobs problem on him. For this reason, he has been reluctant to address mergers.
I don't agree with the GOP on the business-friendly issue; for companies have plenty of profits and cash of late. However, in politics, impressions are everything and Obama is facing re-election soon.
Table-ized A.I.
Anti-republican kool-aid. Anti-democrat kool-aid. Same formula, same factory, same vat. Only the label's different.
The DoJ is the part of the executive branch tasked with enforcing the law. Completely separate from the Judicial Branch of government.
Please don't be an apologist (for him or any other politician). He's a politician and always has been. He'll cave to PACs as quickly as the next guy.
Saying Android is a family of phones is akin to saying Linux is a family of PCs.