Posted on 01/15/2011 8:34:08 AM PST by HushTX
Right now, the FCC and Department of Justice are preparing to approve the NBC/Comcast merger -- something that would have dire consequences for years to come.
It’s up to each one of us to do everything we can to stop big corporations from gaining control of our media.
_________________________________________
Dear Attorney General Holder and Chairman Genachowski,
We write to urge you to reject the merger of Comcast Corporation and NBC Universal.
This deal would mean higher cable rates and less freedom of choice for American consumers, and it would give a single media conglomerate unprecedented control over the flow of information in America. Whenever the same company owns both the content and the pipes delivering that content, consumers lose.
Already, we have seen that Comcast is not operating in good faith. By imposing a new fee on the company delivering Netflix’s online video streaming, Comcast is trying to kill off a competitor. Comcast has also refused to provide the FCC with documents necessary for the review process, and has already named the 43 executives who will take over NBC Universal.
As American consumers, we know a bad deal when we see one. Allowing this merger to proceed could lead to subsequent deals, leaving Americans at the mercy of a few powerful media conglomerates.
Don’t fall for Comcast’s spin. Don’t be swayed by their army of lobbyists. Stand up for American consumers. Stop this merger.
Sincerely,
Al Franken & YOUR NAME + 70357 OTHERS HERE
So, the reason I posted this is to ask a question of my fellow FReepers. What does the DoJ have to do with the NBC/Comcast merger? The FCC at least has some relation to the industry, though I'm not sure how I feel about them approving mergers. But DoJ?
Insight welcome. Thanks.
Hey Al. Why don’t you stay the bleep out of the marketplace.
It’s not the role of government, and besides, you’ve proven with your own failed attempts at capitalism that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Since franken wrote this my automatic response is to reject this and support the merger.
I agree. I would not have read it if it had not originally been posted by someone I know.
I dismiss everything from Franken because he’s a poster-child libtard, but my issue here is not his message. It’s the involvement of the FCC and DoJ in a business merger. What is the principle behind their involvement? It’s my opinion that they have NO PLACE in this.
It's about race. Why else would Obama\Holder be involved. It seems that there is not the right percentage of blacks in upper management of the two companies to suit the quota queens. There is also not a high enough percentage of black owned channels\networks on the Comcast cable offerings.
The DOJ has to sign off on the deal because of anti-trust implications.
Franken, as a former NBC employee (Saturday Night Live), can’t be trusted to have an objective view here. I don’t think he necessarily wants to stick it to his old bosses though.
Uberlibs like Franken have this nutty idea that the media is not liberal but conservative and as proof they site that they are owned by (horrors!) corporations! In their brains, corporation=big business=conservative=evil.
It matters not that these media corporations spew leftist pap most of the time, they are evil because they are corporations and the only thing worse than a corporation is a corporation buying up other corporations. These people reason that it should be government’s job to buy up corporations to make sure they are “fair”.
That makes sense.
That is, it makes sense why they want to be involved, not that they are. I hadn’t considered the anti-trust issue. Interesting.
Well, I wouldn’t support a merger like that if it was going to have any impact in my life. But I support government involvement even less.
This is not really a Merger. It is Comcast buying NBC Universal from GE. How much worse could NBC be under Comcast then it is under GE?
>>>What does the DoJ have to do with the NBC/Comcast merger?
Antitrust. Monopolies. Programming content owners also owning distribution means, collusion - a distributor giving preferential treatment to distribution of product they own a chunk of vs hindering distribution of content they don’t own a chunk of.
The fedz withholding the ability for mergers sort of like they did to banks that wouldn’t lend to financially unqualified minorities.
Oh, well... that worked out pretty well, right? So what could possibly go wrong here?
Scarcasm... I have it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.