On Jun 20, 2014, at 12:16 AM, Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > As to ex FCC Commissioner Copps' complaint about consolidation of these > Internet companies, I don't even think that's the biggest problem. The real > problem is *local* competition. Consolidating companies that are not > competing in the same geographic locations is not nearly as bad a problem. > > A bit like the difference between TV broadcaster local caps vs national caps. > The former makes a much bigger difference than the latter. I've generally been on the other side of issues with Copp over the years. He is very much in the big government, heavy regulation mode. But I agree that there is too much consolidation. The real power that a combined Comcast/Time Warner will gain is in leverage with the other content companies; this may include the ability to charge for fast lanes via their ISP service. Obviously it also includes their own content - NBC Universal, and the local/regional news and sports channels owned by Time Warner Cable. There is great power moving forward, in controlling Internet access to 30% of U.S. homes, and a significant portion of the content that these homes will consume. Regards Craig ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.