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USDOJ approves anti-consumer merger between AT&T and Bellsouth

By Bill Larson | October 11, 2006 |

We must stop the FCC from doing the same!

The Justice Department today rubber stamped the $78 billion merger of AT&T and BellSouth — deserting its post as the public’s shield against corporate monopolies.

The merger now goes to the Federal Communications Commission for final approval. The deal would effectively resurrect the Ma Bell monopoly that ruled our nation’s communications industry for nearly a century.

An Editorial cartoon by Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News. Visit his website at http://www.adamzyglis.com/

The only ones standing in the path of a new AT&T monopoly are citizens like us. It’s time to tell the FCC, Don’t Let Ma Bell Monopolize the Internet

The merger of AT&T and BellSouth would create a network behemoth that controls nearly half of all telephone land lines in the United States. But the new AT&T presents a far greater threat.

Under the rule of CEO Ed Whitacre, the company is leading the effort to gut Net Neutrality — the longstanding principle that prevents phone companies from controlling what you do, where you go and what you see on the Internet.

Soon all digital media — telephone, TV, radio and the Web — will enter homes via a single broadband connection. Whitacre is trying to control this “pipe” — and the billions of dollars at stake — by erecting new Internet toll booths and discriminating against Web sites that can’t afford their new fees.

If the FCC doesn’t place any conditions on the mega-merger, nothing would prevent the new AT&T from taking away the free and open Internet that has fostered unprecedented economic innovation and democratic participation.

The good news is that we have some allies at the FCC. Two of the four commissioners who will vote on the merger have indicated that they will support Net Neutrality conditions as part of any merger. But they need strong public support to prevail.

Tell the FCC: No AT&T Merger without Net Neutrality

Before the FCC rules, it needs to hear from you. Please forward this article to everyone you know. Take Action Now!

Onward,

Ben Scott
Policy Director
Free Press
http://action.freepress.net/ct/v7xzcuY1LqVa/

P.S. For more information on the AT&T-BellSouth merger, please visit: http://action.freepress.net/ct/vpxzcuY1LqVz/

Watch their Exclusive Interview with the Merger’s ‘Mastermind’: Richard P. Merryweather

For more information

Part I: ‘Merger and Me‘
Part II: ‘Money Well Spent‘

* This article was created from a email press release by group Free Press. I happen to agree however.

About Bill Larson

Bill Larson is the Creator and Publisher of Clarksville Online, and works as a network administrator for Compu-Net Enterprises. He is politically and socially active in the community. Bill is a member of the Friends of Dunbar Cave, and an associate of the Clarksville Free Thinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. You can reach him via telephone at 931-920-0043 or via the email address below.

Email: clarksville@clarksvilleonline.com

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