Action: stop AT&T/Bellsouth - protect your internet freedom

[Amaryllis]

AT&T and BellSouth, two of the largest telecom companies, just announced plans to merge into a media monopoly. This deal must be stopped.


The merger resurrects the Ma Bell monopoly that was busted up in 1984. But it's far worse today. These companies no longer just control telephone calls. They want to become gatekeepers to all digital media -- television, telephone and Internet -- at prices that many Americans can't afford.


The merger is now in the hands of the FCC, FTC and Congress. They'll rubber-stamp the deal unless the public speaks up. It's time to tell Washington:


Stop the Merger Now. Do Not Allow a New Media Monopoly.


Giant media companies have failed us on all fronts. They have failed to provide access to all communities. They have stifled and squelched competition, eliminating choices in the marketplace. They have failed to bridge the digital divide, leaving America far behind other countries. They have failed to open their networks to local and independent content creators. They have failed to protect net freedoms that keep the Internet an open road for all.


We need real competition and a choice of innovative communications services. It's time to turn back the new tide of media consolidation.



Stop the AT&T Merger Now.


Send your letter to Washington -- before it's too late.


Onward,



Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press


P.S. -- The merger is the largest yet among U.S. telecom players. AT&T, already the nation's largest telecommunications company, will become the largest broadband provider with nearly 10 million subscribers. Both AT&T and BellSouth execs have publicly flirted with plans to undermine the freedoms that keep the internet open to all. Learn more at www.netfreedomnow.org.

http://action.freepress.net/campaign/stopatt to take action

[Selatius]

1. Ma Bell is back! This is not tolerable.

They put the Sherman Anti-Trust Act on the books back in 1890 precisely to battle the corporate giants of that era because the people had grown so angry at being raped and taken advantage of by these corporate machines. One day, a populist will rise and dust off that weapon again and use it. We need to clean house with a good old-fashioned trust buster.

[lady lib]

2. Done. n/t

[LisaLynne]

3. Done and kick! nt

[On the Road]

4. I Signed and Added This Paragraph

"The breakup of the Bell System allowed great advances in phone service while dramatically lowering prices. Allowing 5 of the original 8 components of the Bell System to reunite would be a repudiation of that that breakup. Antitrust laws exist for a reason."

I am a Verizon employee (former Bell Atlantic) and have experienced the beneficial changes in having smaller competing companies rather than one dominant phone system. I am really shocked that 5 of the 8 pieces of the old Bell System (Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Telesys, Bell South, and now AT&T) are coming back together again.

You can make the argument that there's no need to break up local phone companies, since they generally don't directly compete with each other anyway. But in DSL, long-distance, and wireless (probably the reason for the deal), the market is becoming an oligopoly.

[Amaryllis]

5. Somebody is making a lotta money on this deal.

[rman]

6. it's the new capitalism: less competition is better. nt

[0007]

7. AT&T are up to their old tricks again and this time its worse

than ever. They're taking away low-income phone lines and making ya jump through hoops to get $3.50 knocked off the phone bill.

The rotten fucking vultures.