A customer survey sent out March 14 to AT&T’s U-verse subscribers asked whether they would be interested in signing up for, or even inquiring about, a “new video and Internet service” that would: Stream to customers’ own devices without a receiver box; include local broadcast channels and “popular sports and entertainment” cable channels; the option to bundle one streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime; and better picture quality and shorter wait times for streaming, All this would be offered “at a significantly lower price than traditional pay TV services” and without usage charges for streaming.

FairPoint's contention has always been that since the company pays the state's telecommunications tax, allowing its poles to also be taxed by communities constitutes double taxation. However, proponents of the exemption repeal contend that since electric utility poles were already being taxed by communities, it is unfair not to allow them to tax FairPoint's poles.

"This is the description of an attack happening in Brazil since 2011 using 1 firmware vulnerability, 2 malicious scripts and 40 malicious DNS servers, which affected 6 hardware manufacturers, resulting in millions of Brazilian internet users falling victim to a sustained and silent mass attack on DSL modems. This enabled the attack to reach network devices belonging to millions of individual and business users, spreading malware and engineering malicious redirects over the course of several months."

"The negligence of the manufacturers, the neglect of the ISPs and ignorance of the official government agencies create a 'perfect storm,' enabling cybercriminals to attack at will."