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Comcast CEO Argues Rules Will Protect Customers In Merger, While Comcast Lawyers Argue Rules Are Unconstitutional
from the how-it-works dept
Earlier, we had a story about NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker being caught lying in his Congressional testimony on the Comcast/NBC merger. And a bunch of folks have now been sending in the news of Al Franken blatantly calling Comcast boss Brian Roberts for also being less than honest, specifically about the FCC rules to protect consumers:
Of course, this is nothing new for Comcast. It has been playing the same doubletalk game for a while now -- always insisting that it shouldn't be subject to more regulation because the FCC's rules keep it in line... while at the same time fighting the FCC in court and saying that those rules are unconstitutional.
All that said, I have to say that I'm not particularly concerned about Comcast and NBC merging. I'm all for it. If two companies that poorly run are getting together, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a disaster. We've seen this game before, and it was called AOL-Time Warner. While it's difficult to think that anyone could screw up that badly again, if anyone can, it's the folks at NBC Universal.
"In other words, looking to get approval for this merger, you sat there in my office and told me to my face that these rules would protect consumers but your lawyers had just finished arguing in front of the Commission that it would be unconstitutional to apply these rules."You can see the video here:
All that said, I have to say that I'm not particularly concerned about Comcast and NBC merging. I'm all for it. If two companies that poorly run are getting together, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a disaster. We've seen this game before, and it was called AOL-Time Warner. While it's difficult to think that anyone could screw up that badly again, if anyone can, it's the folks at NBC Universal.
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Simple it is not.
It is not something people don't see coming, when those merger happens interests shifts and out come out abuse, lock in and the end of competition, that damages the business ecosystem.
Business with competing interest should not be eligible for mergers it kills the very thing needed for a vibrant environment.
Even when it doesn't work for the companies the end result is not good.
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Re: Simple it is not.
I'm all for Comcast and NBC going bye-bye. Comcast is in my opinion so big they mis-manage for a while before failure. A quick read around the internet (dsl reports, consumerist) shows many issues with even basic treatment of their customers. In their time before they fail they could easily set various nasty industry-wide practices that become the norm.
I just can't see it being a good thing.
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Yes but...
Franken likes to hear himself talk.
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Re: Yes but...
Anyway, Franken's concerns are extremely valid, and they were never going to answer his questions anyway.
As we routinely see in example after example on this very site, large companies do not want to fight and struggle for survival. They want to cash checks.
Franken explains (and it might be another clip at the same hearing) about his experiences with relaxed regulations and how the entertainment quality (and at NBC profits) have suffered on behalf of it.
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Re: Yes but...
I'm far from being an Al Franken fan but I could watch this kind of stuff all day long.
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Re:
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Bad Precedent
While I appreciate the humor in the paragraph past this statement, I must disagree with it completely. A NBC-Comcast merger would set a horrible precedent. Just imagine if AT&T and Fox decide to get together! The biggest communications monopoly that ever existed, combined with the biggest monopoly on *making up "facts" to suit an agenda* that ever existed.
I'm already looking for jobs with work visas in Canada. I don't want to be anywhere near any metropolitan area in U.S.A. when Fox decides WW3 might be good for ratings.
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poorly run?
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