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Comments on news posted 2014-05-01 08:07:49: To get their merger approved, Comcast has brushed aside anti-competitive concerns by claiming that effectively everybody from Hulu (which Comcast owns) to Google Fiber (whose footprint is too small to provide meaningful competition) will provide a co.. ..


Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

3 recommendations

Kilroy

MVM

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

While conveniently failing to mention that these services require Comcast pipes to reach Comcast users and that they have already started extorting money from them by failing to maintain sufficient interconnects or joining Open Connect.

Also known as listen to what I'm saying, don't watch what I'm doing.

CordCutter
@66.249.88.x

CordCutter

Anon

Netflix and the much hyped cord cutters are competitors

Comcast is correct. Netflix, leading the charge of the cord cutters, is a direct competitor to Comcast's Video TV business. Everyone keeps saying that is the new reality.

dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI

1 recommendation

dnoyeB

Member

It doesn't have to make real sense

They aren't really trying to convince regulators as money seems to do that just fine. They are trying to give regulators plausible arguments to use on the public and other watchdog agencies so they keep their jobs.
The reasoning only need the right level of truthiness.
rfrooney
join:2006-02-26
Antioch, TN

rfrooney

Member

Comcast keeps spewing more bovine skatology

and the regulators keep drinking the kool-aid.

This merger is bad for everyone involved except Comcast and the only ones that see it are the same ones the FCC ignores.

Yucca Servic
join:2012-11-27
Rio Rancho, NM

Yucca Servic

Member

Cable vs online provider

Cable is only a regional provider. Netflix covers where ever the net exists. One thing about Netflix Hollywood controls what you have access to.

Competition I don't think so, and by the way Comcast go away your bugging me!

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

1 recommendation

newview

Premium Member

Keep hammering away at them

quote:
A majority of Americans are skeptical about the proposed merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc, and they are not convinced the U.S. government is doing enough to prevent monopolies generally, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll ...
»www.huffingtonpost.com/2 ··· 738.html

Say NO to the Comcast / Time Warner Cable Mafia Merger
»bit.ly/1gB0ULh

Reclassify Internet broadband providers as common carriers
»1.usa.gov/1ffW35d

We the People Net Neutrality Petition
»1.usa.gov/1mHh7S0
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to CordCutter

Member

to CordCutter

Re: Netflix and the much hyped cord cutters are competitors

Well, if Netflix had both content and a network to deliver their "competitive product" on then I may agree.

However, Netflix relies on ISP's to deliver their content being they are internet based. Therefore Comcast and TWC are both gatekeepers of that content, not competitors to it. In addition, Comcast owns some of the very content that Netflix offers or would like to offer. Thus again they are a gatekeeper of it, not a competitor.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

4 words we should all remember

"To big to fail"
Do we want to add yet another company to the list of companies that will need tax payer money if they get into trouble?
Bad enough wall street, the banks, the auto industry required a bail out. And now look at how those industries are back to screwing their customers yet again.

There is just 1 thing Comcast could do to change my stance on the merger. That 1 thing is simple. Give up the last mile blockade. Allow competitors to use the cable they [Comcast] ran. And get all the Cable companies to open up the last mile. So there can be true competition in that market.
Until then, no merger.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

Member

but we own the biggest road in the usa. for netflix. so we will screw you that way now

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

yep. Plus the convenience of usage meters. So you can keep your bill low.

jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

1 edit

jjeffeory

Member

Netflix isn't an ISP.

Netflix isn't a competitor, they don't provide broadband, and they don't provide all the network channels. That's like saying ABC is a competitor to Comcast, which isn't really true. Disney, who owns ABC, may be a competitor to Comcast on the content producer side, but certainly not the distribution side, and Netflix would be more like "1" channel than dozens of channels that makes up Comcast's content producing side of their business. What we have here is a content source of many channels/content distributor trying to say that a single content source is competition and should be considered as a valid reason to allow a merger between content source of many channels/content distributor (Comcast) and content distributor (TWC).

Really distorted logic here.
jjeffeory

jjeffeory to Yucca Servic

Member

to Yucca Servic

Re: Cable vs online provider

All regional cable companies include a core set of channels; every cable company that I've seen, since the inception of cable systems, have ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and several other channels. Even the most basic and terrible service anywhere in America can be assured to have these channels and probably C-Span, CNN. So anywhere cable is available, you can just lump them together. ...and Hollywood controls whatever we have access to anyway, other than the local news... Well, Comcast and Disney also control what we have access to as well. Too much consolidation on TV and Movies in my opinion.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven to Snakeoil

Member

to Snakeoil

Re: 4 words we should all remember

..except we're having multiple companies that are fitting into that class. This creates a massive problem.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

yep. Crappy service, high prices, no competition, etc, etc.