Comcast admits defeat, terminates Time Warner Cable merger agreement
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Now the DoJ needs to be retasked to have another look at Comcast's merger with NBCU and slap them around for violating just about ALL of those merger conditions and break them apart.
edit: Right after they get done with that parental scowl at the Death Star/DirecTV merger.
edit: Right after they get done with that parental scowl at the Death Star/DirecTV merger.
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Their "unique" products? Like being more or less the only cable company not allowing the HBOGo App on Playstation systems?
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Maybe they'll start to see that fucking their customers isn't a best practice for the industry, anymore?
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Thank fucking god. This doesn't even begin to solve the US's problems with ISPs and content providers, but at least it's one of those rare events that don't make things *worse*.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912113#p28912113:2vfh1f8l said:
Yes to both of those. I can understand a cable company owning a regional sports network, but a national news organization with big reach is a lot scarier.
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I really don't see how this changes anything for anyone in any sort of meaningful way.
We still have no realistic choice in cable provider. (Moving is not realistic.) As a result, there is no competition for customers.
As long as there is only one choice for consumers, content providers have no choice but to deal with Comcast on their terms or be unable to service cable customers in a geographic area.
Those problems remain just as real today as they were before the merger was announced, and they would continue to be just as real if Comcast were to buy every single cable provider in the US.
We still have no realistic choice in cable provider. (Moving is not realistic.) As a result, there is no competition for customers.
As long as there is only one choice for consumers, content providers have no choice but to deal with Comcast on their terms or be unable to service cable customers in a geographic area.
Those problems remain just as real today as they were before the merger was announced, and they would continue to be just as real if Comcast were to buy every single cable provider in the US.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912137#p28912137:3azou42e said:
What I said. Since they didn't get what they want, maybe they'll question why (public outcry? inadequate bribes? etc). Perhaps the answer they'll arrive at is that their behavior and lack of respect towards their customers actually cost them the deal. In that sense, it could help the whole industry as a sort of pail of water in the face.
EDIT: Or perhaps they'll create a better function for calculating appropriate bribes based on measurements of negative twitter chatter in relation to the politicians' campaign promises and established personalities.
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Excellent! Now to find a way to get TWC and Comcast to compete in the same markets overlapping each other, not Comcast take one part and TWC the other.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912137#p28912137:cvep46gc said:
it may not change anything in the short term. But maybe in ~20 years it might force TWC and comcast to compete against each other in certain edge cities to start increasing their profits.
that or they will just try to merge again in 20 years when everybody has forgot about this.
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Our employees are thrilled to not have their head in a guillotine anymore, after these long months they can finally breathe easy.
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"We are extremely disappointed that we have lost the opportunity to screw over lots of fresh mea...hey, you're not recording this, right?"
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Now that they have a spare $45B maybe they could spend something on improving customer service.
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Wishful thinking: Them getting a slap-down primarily because everyone hates them could maybe tip the scales a bit so that execs think a little bit more long-term in the industry? It's hard not to think this rejection came in part because of their abysmal reputation. Maybe instead of slashing support costs to improve next quarter's profits, they increase support funding so that people like them and they can pull off this merger in a decade.[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912137#p28912137:1fbubsfh said:
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Nothing stoping Comcast bringing their "great" products to new cities...
...except that they'd have to compete.
...except that they'd have to compete.
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912137#p28912137:1okddj35 said:
Good point, in fact if there was one monolith cable company to rule them all I could imagine content publishers abandoning ship for the internet at a much faster rate to escape the monopoly's pricing structure.
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"FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler issued a statement saying that preventing the merger "is in the best interests of consumers. The proposed transaction would have created a company with the most broadband and the video subscribers in the nation alongside the ownership of significant programming interests.""
Now how about doing what is "in the best interests of consumers" and force states to give up their monopolistic policies so consumers who may despise Comcast, can cancel Comcast, and get the same services from other companies. Right now, if I cancel Comcast, so much for cable internet and hello subpar DSL, and so long any choice in cable companies and hello to overpriced satellite.
Now how about doing what is "in the best interests of consumers" and force states to give up their monopolistic policies so consumers who may despise Comcast, can cancel Comcast, and get the same services from other companies. Right now, if I cancel Comcast, so much for cable internet and hello subpar DSL, and so long any choice in cable companies and hello to overpriced satellite.
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Most local governments WOULD allow and even welcome it in this modern era. The difference being that back when cableco's were first moving in, towns were a little different in their thinking and were more than happy to lock up with a 20, 30, 50 year or longer exclusive franchise agreement written by and for a single provider. Those very agreements that those same municipalities are coming to regret as they are now languishing with old plant and no upgrades in sight.[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912211#p28912211:nx1dv13j said:
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So all the politicians that Comcrap has paid for like the cheap whores that they are couldn't deliver?
My heart is breaking for Comcrap.
Really. It is.
Edit: spelling.
My heart is breaking for Comcrap.
Really. It is.
Edit: spelling.
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Yet somehow, Google manages to do it.[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912211#p28912211:32zrsyjy said:
If the cost was so impractical, then companies like Comcast wouldn't have a need to spend millions on lawyers trying to keep those who want to compete with them out of their markets. Yet, they do.
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next up:
time warner cables declares bankruptcy comcast indicted for breaking nearly all NBCU terms and conditions
no celebrating yet still waiting to see if the doj still pursues them for the hulu mess on top of the possibly illegal mess with netflix
time warner cables declares bankruptcy comcast indicted for breaking nearly all NBCU terms and conditions
no celebrating yet still waiting to see if the doj still pursues them for the hulu mess on top of the possibly illegal mess with netflix
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I like how they're basically saying they are looking forward to continuing the practice of not competing with Time Warner moving forward.
While this is a victory, it's simply one that prevents things from getting worse.
While this is a victory, it's simply one that prevents things from getting worse.
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I'm very happy the deal fell through, though I can't wait to see the next bill. Had to fight them recently over a price jump, and expecting to fight them again. But for now, happy times!
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Google Fiber says hello. Of course, they are building only in selected "fiberhoods", not a general build-out like the incumbent has to do under existing franchise agreements.[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912211#p28912211:1xhk69p4 said:
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Hack-n-Slash
Ars Legatus Legionis
[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912227#p28912227:2k9d38oc said:
IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that a federal law forbidding exclusive contracts (1992, 1996) would render pre-existing contracts of that type null and void.
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JustAdComics
Ars Praetorian
"Smithers? Cancel the platinum for the bathrooms and kitchens. We'll have to stick with the gold fixtures for now. Oh, and don't forget to feed those lobbyists to the crocodiles in the moat!"
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It is truly sad that we will be deprived of Time Warner getting the Customer Service that Comcast is (in)famous for, while at the same time Comcast getting the forward looking understanding of technology that Time Warner, a copyright focused company would have brought to the relationship.
(hope I don't need a sarcasm tag for the humor challenged)
(hope I don't need a sarcasm tag for the humor challenged)
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[url=http://meincmagazine.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=28912263#p28912263:1glafgzf said:
IAAL (I am a lawyer) and it wouldn't be uncommon for the forbearance on these types of contracts to have a grandfather clause. Lots of this stuff never applies retroactively, only prospectively.
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Maybe someone can explain to me why the U.S doesn't have more DSL, and especially its evolutions (ADSL2+, VDSL). It seems to me the main problem is one of choice, and the reason for lack of options is that building similar infrastructure in parallel is cost prohibitive.
I live in Switzerland. We have local loop unbundling for our telephone infrastructure, ignoring that for a moment, much more importantly, we have competition through competing infrastructures.
For 15+ years, phone and cable networks, which are both available to nearly all the population, including remote alpine villages, have been competing on prices, services, speed...
So it's true that you don't find any town where you get a choice of cable networks. But since phone and cable have both kept up technologically, we get great speed and services on both, and have real choice. Which is improving also with the deployment of fiber, both in the towns by the big operators, but also on the local level through private initiatives, often in partnership with the regional cable companies.
I live in Switzerland. We have local loop unbundling for our telephone infrastructure, ignoring that for a moment, much more importantly, we have competition through competing infrastructures.
For 15+ years, phone and cable networks, which are both available to nearly all the population, including remote alpine villages, have been competing on prices, services, speed...
So it's true that you don't find any town where you get a choice of cable networks. But since phone and cable have both kept up technologically, we get great speed and services on both, and have real choice. Which is improving also with the deployment of fiber, both in the towns by the big operators, but also on the local level through private initiatives, often in partnership with the regional cable companies.
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