------- start of forwarded message ------- From: John Navas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Newsgroups: ba.internet Subject: FCC firmly in the pocket of big business Followup-To: comp.dcom.modems.cable Organization: The Navas Group, Dublin, CA, USA Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 08:24:01 -0700 On August 16, 1999 I wrote: "[FCC Chairman] Kennard appears to be firmly in AT&T's pocket." <news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> <http://www.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=513533440&fmt=text> There were some that challenged my assessment. I believe that I've now been fully vindicated -- see: "FCC loosens rules on cable TV ownership Decision a boon for AT&T ..." <http://www.hotcoco.com/biztech/stories_business/jfm34190.htm> Excerpts: Friday's vote, coming just two months after the FCC relaxed the ownership rules for broadcasters, sets a framework to permit AT&T to become the nation's largest cable operator by completing its $58 billion purchase of the MediaOne Group. The old rules would have required AT&T to make significant divestitures, while the new rules may force, at most, some limited sales. But the commission, which has been bombarded by AT&T lobbyists and executives in recent weeks pleading for a relaxation of the rules, practically invited the company to seek waivers for some of the few remaining restrictions on its deal. ... "This is intellectually dishonest," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a Washington group that promotes consumer rights and diversity of the airwaves. "The same FCC that decried legal fictions and artificial legal constructs in August in taking the loopholes out of the broadcast ownership rules has created an even greater set of legal fictions and loopholes in the cable ownership rules." Hang on to your wallet, very tightly. -- Best regards, John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/> CABLE/DSL TIPS: <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/tech/cable_dsl.htm> ------- end of forwarded message -------
