Washington Post
Aiming at AT&T and Time Warner, President Trump shot from the hip and missed
President Donald Trump knew right away how he felt about AT&T’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. He hated it. “It’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” Trump said on the day the deal was struck in October 2016, adding that, if he were elected, his administration would block the purchase. Judge Richard Leon considered the matter for several months and in a lengthy opinion June 12 ruled that President Trump’s take, shot from the hip, was off the mark. The merger of media giants can move forward, despite legal objections by the Justice Department.
A judge is about to decide whether to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner. Here’s what you need to know.
The AT&T/Time Warner case could be decided any number of ways. Judge Richard Leon could rule in the government's favor, forcing AT&T to abandon the deal or to sell off key assets such as Turner or DirecTV to move forward. Judge Leon could side with AT&T, saying there is no threat to competition and allowing the deal to proceed unimpeded. In that scenario, AT&T would not be required to divest anything or make any other concessions and could close the deal by June 18.
This week could reshape the internet: Net neutrality rules expire, and AT&T-Time Warner decision is due
The two events in Washington (net neutrality June 11 and AT&T/Time Warner ruling June 12) could lead to further consolidation of wireless, cable and content giants, public-interest advocates say. And they fear that behemoths like AT&T might someday prioritize their own TV shows and other content over rivals’. Internet service providers (ISPs) deny that they would engage in such a practice — yet consumer watchdogs worry that people would have little legal recourse if they did.
Cybersecurity experts reject FBI's push for encryption back doors (Washington Post)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Mon, 06/11/2018 - 11:29The FCC’s net neutrality rules are officially repealed today. Here’s what that really means.
With the network neutrality rules coming off the books, how is your Internet experience likely to change? Here's what you need to know:
Top Senate Democratic super PAC to make $80 million fall TV investment in nine battleground states (Washington Post)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Mon, 06/11/2018 - 07:45Goodbye to net neutrality. Hello to an even-bigger AT&T?
Two pivotal developments this week could dramatically expand the power and footprint of major telecom companies, altering how Americans access everything from political news to “Game of Thrones” on the Internet.
Are any encrypted messaging apps fail-safe? Subjects of Mueller’s investigation are about to find out.
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's team is reportedly reviewing the encrypted messaging apps of witnesses in the Russia investigation. The team is looking at what experts say are some of the best apps at keeping messages private. Not all encrypted messaging apps disclose their user numbers, so it's hard to pinpoint just how prolific they have become. But the most popular among them, WhatsApp, claims 1.5 billion users around the world.