Ownership

In July, the head of the Information Technology Industry Council published a warning against overly broad antitrust investigations that ‘could jeopardize American companies' leadership’ — a message that came amid rising regulatory heat on the group's members Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. But it soon became clear that some in the Information Technology Industry Council didn't want to risk being seen as defending the four embattled tech giants.

After years of on-again, off-again merger talks, broadcast giant CBS and its corporate sibling Viacom finally agreed to reunite in a $12-billion deal that will bring together such well-known brands as CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime. CBS, which is the larger of the two companies and worth $18.5 billion, will absorb the smaller Viacom, which owns such assets as MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central and the Paramount Pictures movie studio in Hollywood.

Not long ago, many leading technologists considered themselves too lofty and idealistic to concern themselves with the petty affairs of government. But that was before privacy scandals, antitrust investigations, congressional hearings, Chinese tariffs, presidential tweets and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Now, as they try to fend off regulation and avoid being broken up, some of the largest companies in Silicon Valley are tripping over their Allbirds in a race to cozy up to the United States government.

Facebook has started to modify its behavior — in both pre-emptive and defensive ways — to deal with threats of regulation. Facebook has its eye particularly on the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that is now investigating it for anticompetitive practices.

Netflix has been evolving its public policy strategies in recent months to align itself more with Hollywood and less with Silicon Valley, a shift driven by the streamer's maturation into a full-fledged film and TV studio, by its international expansion and by the intense scrutiny Washington is now applying to the tech companies.

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) is adding its voice to those calling on the Federal Communications Commission to open a public comment period since new developments were made related to the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. WISPA, which previously called for a public comment period, notes the series of agreements that T-Mobile and Sprint entered into with the Department of Justice in July. Those conditions include the divestiture of certain spectrum assets to Dish Network.

When AT&T acquired Time Warner in 2018 for $85 billion, the companies said the deal would be great for consumers, who would benefit from lower prices and improved service. The Justice Department said the opposite, predicting the merger would give AT&T so much market power that price hikes and channel blackouts were all but inevitable. And now we know. The government was right.

America’s two largest newspaper publishers will merge in an effort to combat declining circulation and plunging advertising revenue, but will still face pressure to cut costs at hundreds of already cash-strapped publications around the country. The $1.4 billion purchase of McLean (VA)-based Gannett by GateHouse Media, based in Pittsford (NY), will create a conglomerate that will own more than 250 daily newspapers and hundreds of weekly and community papers.

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced new legislation to crack down on monopolies that violate antitrust law. The Monopolization Deterrence Act would give the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission the authority to seek civil penalties for monopolization offenses under the antitrust laws, a power they currently do not have. The bill was introduced with Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and co-sponsored by Sens Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA). Specifically, the Monopolization Deterrence Act would:

Jeffrey Houser launched the rural internet-service provider Rednet by shooting Wi-Fi from ridge-top antennas to customers from Punxsutawney (PA) of groundhog fame to homespun Blairsville (PA). His vision was to bring the internet to rural areas. And all was going well until Rednet connected off-campus apartments for students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, expanding beyond his rural base, but also encroaching on Comcast's turf.  And that’s when, Houser says, his company ran into the buzz saw of Comcast’s billing and collections department.