AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner • Hacker News Board

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#31

Post by opencl » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

rosser wrote: post #3

I'm so glad the end of Net Neutrality has ushered in an era of unprecedented competition in the broadband market. EDIT: Yes, this acquisition is of the content division of Time Warner, not the ISP, which was previously acquired — by another broadband provider , mooting my general point how, again?

This has nothing to do with the broadband market. Time Warner Cable was spun off from Time Warner in 2009 and subsequently bought up by Spectrum in 2016.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#32

Post by roflc0ptic » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:11 PM UTC

In the context of net neutrality ending, this looks like AT&T acquiring the means to exploit discriminatory traffic routing. It seems like there will be a gold rush of sorts, towards building walled gardens, segmenting the Internet into fiefs.

Does ending NN allow an ISP to completely block a website? I.e. to what extent does this also open up the door to overt political censorship?

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#33

Post by wmf » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:11 PM UTC

Confiks wrote: post #25

rosser wrote: post #3

I'm so glad the end of Net Neutrality has ushered in an era of unprecedented competition in the broadband market. EDIT: Yes, this acquisition is of the content division of Time Warner, not the ISP, which was previously acquired — by another broadband provider , mooting my general point how, again?

Another comment [1] indicated that "this isn't the internet Time Warner (...) this is the entertainment Time Warner". Is that correct? (I'm not familiar with the US broadband market) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17297966

Time Warner Cable (the ISP) was already bought by Charter and renamed to Spectrum.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#34

Post by djsumdog » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:11 PM UTC

shmerl wrote: post #16

So, will anti-trust please bust this monster? And split Comcast along the way too (media from ISP), for good measure.

No, this is the result of that failure. ATT/TW wanted to do this in 2016 as the other comments state. This was the approval.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#35

Post by staunch » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:12 PM UTC

Technology will help the citizenry destroy these evil megacorps. It's just a matter of time and some improvements in technology. The world where ABC/CBS/NBC/NYTimes/Time/etc could control what people think is over. In the near future we will have a much more educated populace. They will flex their power in ways that seem unimaginable now. When the information revolution finally arrives, these megacorps will be the first against the wall

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#36

Post by traek » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:12 PM UTC

NB this is "Time Warner the media company", not Time Warner Cable (which is now Spectrum.) This isn't broadband consolidation but rather media/entertainment consolidation.

The deal is most closely comparable to Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#37

Post by djsumdog » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:12 PM UTC

xeromal wrote: post #11

FYI, this isn't the internet Time Warner. This is the entertainment Time Warner. The internet Time Warner is run by Spectrum these days.

Does that really matter? Just because it isn't becoming an Internet monopoly, it's still a content+distribution mega-corp that can squeeze its competitors and limit options for consumers.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#38

Post by efficax » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

This is nuts. This means there is now only one last-mile broadband provider in plenty of big markets. Milwaukee, for example, now no longer has any competition in the broadband space.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#39

Post by SippinLean » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

mikece wrote: post #24

This is a distribution company -- internet, cable TV, satellite -- acquiring a content company (the communications portion of Time Warner was spun off as Spectrum). Isn't this just a vertical integration?

Time Warner's cable business was spun off as Time Warner Cable, which Charter Communications later acquired. Charter's cable/internet/tv brand is Spectrum.

Re: AT&T Cleared by Judge to Buy Time Warner

#40

Post by dv_dt » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 9:15 PM UTC

rosser wrote: post #3

I'm so glad the end of Net Neutrality has ushered in an era of unprecedented competition in the broadband market. EDIT: Yes, this acquisition is of the content division of Time Warner, not the ISP, which was previously acquired — by another broadband provider , mooting my general point how, again?

As noted in other comments this is Time Warner the entertainment assets (not cable co). But it's equally bad at the end of Net Neutrality, as it gives AT&T direct motivation to interfere with competing services trying to offer entertainment over the internet to any customers who happen to get access via AT&T.