The term "telephone" company is now a relic. These companies, particularly AT&T and Verizon, are rapidly becoming broadband internet providers that offer telephone and "cable" TV all over their same broadband pipe. And that's precisely why creative types need to worry about this merger. Because AT&T and Verizon have a closed "cable TV" vision for the Internet, with them positioned as the Internet gatekeepers and toll takers. Their vision turns the free, independent, and open nature of today's Internet on its head. Instead, their Internet would look much more like the old pre-Internet AOL -- a "walled garden" that featured only the content that they were in business with. For any other content, a consumer would have to "go over the wall," and we all remember how lame that was before AOL decided it had to embrace the entire Internet instead of fight against it. For more on the danger this closed Internet poses to creative voices, read our paper, "The Future of the Internet: Open or Closed?" linked below.
Ken Belson in the NYT captures some nice quotes and observations about the possible dangers of this merger:
"Tollbooths and gatekeepers are the exact opposite of what the Internet is all about," said Michael J. Copps, a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. "Down that route consumers can count on paying more and getting less — less content, fewer services and reduced innovation."
The big network operators argue that they would never deliberately slow or block access to Web sites, because doing so would raise a furor in Washington. Besides, they say, angry consumers could switch Internet providers in protest. That may be true in big cities like New York and Washington, where there is a variety of Internet service providers. But in many other cities, there are typically two and sometimes only one broadband provider — the cable or phone company.
In many cases, "there's nowhere else to go," said Paul Misener, the vice president of global public policy at Amazon. "The market power that these folks have is real, and it is not going to change any time soon."
Regulators must review this mega-merger carefully and, if they approve it at all, attach stringent conditions that will preserve the open Internet we cherish. Among those conditions:
1. "Naked DSL and broadband" -- allow consumers just to buy broadband service from the merged company, not the bundle of services it will try to force consumers to eat (the cable TV model). Naked DSL will allow consumers to get the phone, video, and broadband Internet from non-AT&T suppliers.
2. Net Neutrality. This merged company will be a huge broadband provider, able to dictate terms for the Internet. Net Neutrality is required to ensure consumers can access the content they want when they want it, without discrimination by this company.
3. ENCOURAGE, not outlaw wireless broadband Internet access, including by state and local governments. Without this competition, there simply will be 2 companies providing broadband Internet access -- your friendly neighborhood telephone and cable companies -- and that isn't enough to keep the market open and fair. And, FREE UP SPECTRUM -- the Feds need to provide more "airwave space" for this wireless Internet access.
Otherwise, creative media artists, like consumers, will face a closed and discriminatory Internet. Creatives have seen how that's worked out for them in broadcast TV and now cable TV. Been there, done that, it's not good. An open Internet is the "level playing field" that we've always hoped for. If we want it to survive, we'll have to fight for it.
Telco Mega-Merger Endangers Creative Voices
