Ownership

Over just two days this week, the Trump administration has both sued AT&T to block its planned takeover of Time Warner and proposed allowing internet-service providers—like AT&T—to form closer alliances with content companies, like Time Warner. The two government moves seem to go in opposite directions, on the one hand restricting a major telecommunications merger and on the other giving internet providers broad new powers to shape their customers’ online experiences.

The Meredith Corporation — the owner of Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens and AllRecipes — agreed to purchase Time Inc. (the publisher of once-prestigious magazine titles including Time, Sports Illustrated and People) in an all-cash transaction valued at nearly $3 billion. The deal was made possible, in part, by an infusion of $650 million from the private equity arm of Charles G. and David H. Koch, the billionaire brothers known for using their wealth and political connections to advance conservative causes. 

The Republican-helmed Federal Communications Commission is expected to pull the plug on net neutrality rules — but tech companies, entrepreneurs and other concerned users are vowing to not go down without a fight. Engine, a nonprofit group representing more than 1,000 start-ups and investors, released an open letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai detailing how they're worried they won't have a fair chance under his proposal. "Without net neutrality, the incumbents who provide access to the internet would be able to pick winners or losers in the market.

[Commentary] The United States is a nation quarreling with itself right now. Most of the country’s population wants to keep the internet an equitable and free place, embracing net neutrality rules as a necessary guardian against corporate overreach. But the current political administration seems hellbent on dismantling net neutrality and handing internet service providers the freedom to mold, shape, manipulate, and price internet access in whatever fashion they like.

The future of AT&T could be shaped by two big decisions in Washington, with the Justice Department suing the company to block its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner and the Federal Communications Commission announcing a plan to roll back net neutrality rules, handing a big win to Internet providers. Some analysts said the combined actions could deliver a double-victory for AT&T. If it wins its antitrust case against the DOJ, AT&T could buy Time Warner without offering any concessions to the government.

Facebook is creating an online tool to allow users to determine if they might have been exposed to Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential election and its fractious aftermath. The new tool, which the company said will be available by the end of 2017, is the latest move by Facebook to respond to public and political pressure to reveal the extent of the Russian disinformation campaign waged on its social media platform and on Instagram, which Facebook owns.

Internet service providers were renewing their pledges not to block or throttle or otherwise discriminate against legal online content. Under Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's plan, if ISPs did block or throttle or prioritize, they would have to disclose that to the FCC per transparency rules regarding network management, and Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission could respond accordingly.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released his proposal to kill net neutrality today, and while there’s a lot to be unhappy with, it’s hard not to be taken with the brazenness of his argument. CHairman Pai thinks it was a mistake for the FCC to try and stop Comcast from blocking BitTorrent in 2008, thinks all of the regulatory actions the FCC took after that to give itself the authority to prevent blocking were wrong, and wants to go back to the legal framework that allowed Comcast to block BitTorrent. 

[Commentary] The Justice Department (DOJ) just filed a lawsuit over AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner. For a number of reasons, I think this is a good thing. In fact, it could be a really good thing, and that is true regardless of who wins in the end. Here’s why:

Reason 1: The antitrust agencies and the courts have given businesses a pretty clear framework of how to think about mergers between direct competitors, but this is not true when it comes to vertical mergers.

Reason 2: An AT&T loss might actually be good for CNN.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 2017.