Gillmor take on Comcast NBC

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dan Gillmor <dan () gillmor com>
> Date: December 3, 2009 11:48:15 AM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: my take on Comcast NBC

> http://mediactive.com/2009/12/03/the-road-toward-control/
>
> So it’s official. Comcast has announced its intention to buy NBC Uni 
> versal from GE. The danger of this cannot be overstated, but it coul 
> d actually be the catalyst for a policy conversation the nation desp 
> erately needs to hold.
>
> A Comcast-NBC combination is brazenly anti-competitve and anti- 
> democratic. It would give one company far too much ownership over  
> not just professionally produced media but also the ways media  
> consumers can receive it.
>
> Worse, if approved, it could mark the tipping point in Big Media’s p 
> ush to take control over the Internet itself. That’s where we need t 
> o focus our attention.
>
> We can come out of this the right way if the announced deal prompts  
> Congress to stop ducking the key media consolidation issue of our  
> time. If we can use data networks the way we choose, the traditional  
> fears about media consolidation — the concentration of mass media in 
>  the hands of a few immensely powerful corporations — lessen over ti 
> me. They’re still worth worrying about, but not as much.
>
> No, the issue now is the truly scary media consolidation we face:  
> the “broadband” duopoly’s increasing control over what we can  
> do with our media. The cable and phone giants are determined to deci 
> de what bits get delivered in what order, at what speed and at what  
> time — if they get delivered at all — to the people who want them.



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com