The AT&T-Time Warner Merger Must Be Stopped

[Commentary] There is zero reason for the Department of Justice or the Federal Communications Commission — who will pool their resources to examine this deal — to approve the AT&T-Time Warner transaction. And there are more reasons to say no than there are channels on DirectTV.

The high-speed Internet access market in America is entirely stuck on a expensive plateau of uncompetitive mediocrity, with only city fiber networks providing a public option or, indeed, any alternative at all. The AT&T/TWX deal will not prompt a drop of additional competition in that market. Nor will it mean that the entertainment industry will see more competition or new entrants — just that one player will get an unfair distribution advantage. It’s hard to think of a single positive thing this merger will accomplish, other than shining a bright light on just how awful the picture is for data transmission in this nation. This deal should be dead on arrival. In fact, AT&T should spare us by dropping the idea now. This merger must not happen.

[Susan Crawford is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a co-director of the Berkman Center.]