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AT&T's $85B US Bid For Time Warner Sparks Antitrust Fears in Washington (www.cbc.ca)
An anonymous reader writes: The two top members of the Senate's antitrust subcommittee said Sunday that they plan to probe a colossal deal between AT&T and Time Warner. In a statement, Mike Lee, R-Utah., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. -- chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights -- said AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner "would potentially raise significant antitrust issues" that the panel would "carefully examine." AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Randall Stephenson announced the $85 billion deal Saturday as "a great fit" that will combine the "world's best premium content with the networks to deliver it to every screen." Among those new properties are HBO, Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Bros., which would give them ownership of Cinemax, CNN and DC Comics, to name a few. Last year, AT&T completed the purchase of DirecTV, the country's largest satellite television provider. In an interview with NBC News, Klobuchar pointed to past mega-media acquisitions -- including the purchase of NBCUniversal by Comcast in 2011 and of Time Warner Cable by Charter Communications -- and said the "sheer volume" of the deal should give regulators pause.Presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he would not approve of this deal if elected as the President. In the meanwhile, Bernie Sanders have also asked Obama administration to kill this agreement. The Vermont Senator said, "The deal would mean higher prices and fewer choices for the American people,"
Office Depot and Staples merger blocked by FTC. Halliburton and Baker Hughes merger blocked by DOJ. Pfizer takeover of Allergan scrapped due to IRS rule changes. Aetna and Humana merger blocked by DOJ. Anthem and Cigna merger blocked by DOJ. Sysco and US Foods merger blocker by DOJ. Comcast and Time Warner merger blocked by DOJ and FCC. We not only do anti-trust, we do it routinely.
Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders oppose this merger. Sanders is calling on Obama to kill it. Trump has threatened to kill it if he's elected.
Trump never solidly supported the Iraq War.
Trump never solidly supports any position. He changes his mind more often than a teenage girl changes moods. I don't actually mind someone changing their mind about a topic when they learn new information or even if they give a matter serious consideration. Trump never gives anything serious consideration. His policy positions are the very definition of fickle and certainly aren't based out of any ideology or even pragmatism but instead out of whatever whim strikes him at the time. He basically plays to whatever crowd he is facing and lies almost all the time.
Hillary Clinton voted for the war; that's a bit more serious.
So did most of congress at the time and they did so largely based on bad data from our intelligence agencies and the Bush administration. A mistake I think but not one that makes me think Trump would be a better choice as commander in chief.
An antitrust suit based on what? Not like AT&T and Time-Warner are competitors.
It was right there in the summary:
AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Randall Stephenson announced the $85 billion deal Saturday as "a great fit" that will combine the "world's best premium content with the networks to deliver it to every screen
The company that owns the pipes shouldn't be the same company that owns the content.
"You don't want AT&T and want to switch to Google Fiber? Well then I hope you don't mind giving up CNN, HBO and other content"
The incumbent carriers already have too much power, they shouldn't get to wield content over subscribers heads too.
If you can't see that the two party system they have enshrined the US into lets them both do what ever they want to line their own pockets..
If you have 85 billion to buy another company to "Stay competitive"... you not staying competitive your squashing competition.
Who needs WiFi when we can have Packet Over Sheep! http://datacomm.org/PoS-InternetDraft.txt