Regulators Concerned About What Comcast-NBC Merger Means For The Internet

Sanders slammed Comcast merger during epic speech
During his eight-and-a-half-hour Speech against President Obama's tax Compromise with Republicans, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also took on another of his favorite topics: the pending Merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.  His Friday speech, labeled a #filibernie on Twitter, included a few bars of criticism about the mega-merger under review by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department. Sanders wants the deal blocked.  "I think it is a bad idea," Sanders said...

Comcast, the biggest cable company in Bay Area and nation, looks to get bigger
WASHINGTON -- Comcast is by far the biggest pay-TV provider in the Bay Area. It controls TV rights to Giants, A's, Sharks and Warriors games. Many of its customers also sign up for high-speed Internet service. And the company, if it has its way, is about to get a whole lot bigger. In a deal valued at $30 billion that was announced a year ago but has received scant attention outside the nation's capital, Comcast is attempting to buy a majority share of NBC Universal. The Merger would give the nat...

Comcast, the biggest cable company in Bay Area and nation, looks to get bigger
WASHINGTON -- Comcast is by far the biggest pay-TV provider in the Bay Area. It controls TV rights to Giants, A's, Sharks and Warriors games. Many of its customers also sign up for high-speed Internet service. And the company, if it has its way, is about to get a whole lot bigger. In a deal valued at $30 billion that was announced a year ago but has received scant attention outside the nation's capital, Comcast is attempting to buy a majority share of NBC Universal. The Merger would give the nat...

Key net-neutrality advocates oppose Genachowski's plan
A who's-who of the most influential net-neutrality advocates has decided to oppose Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan for regulating Internet lines, which he announced earlier this month. The groups declared their opposition to the proposal in a meeting with Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his staff on Thursday. The groups released the ex parte document describing the meeting on Monday. "At the outset of the meeting, the participants expres...

No talks on Focus Features sale to Gores
Published: Dec. 11, 2010 at 10:35 AM HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Universal Pictures denied media reports that it was in negotiations to sell its specialty film division Focus Features. A Universal representative told The Hollywood Reporter the reported talks with investors Alec and Tom Gores had not gone past an informal proposal and, according to The Reporter's sources, no discussions about a potential deal were scheduled. The Reporter said Saturday that while Focus runs its own releases, it is...

A look at possible conditions in Comcast, NBC deal
Federal Regulators are considering a number of conditions to ensure that Comcast Corp. cannot use its control over NBC’s vast media empire to stifle the growth of online video. Their key concerns: — The darkest fear of companies in the Internet video market is that Comcast could withhold or ratchet up prices for popular NBC Universal programming, including hit shows such as “30 Rock” and “The Office.” So Regulators may force Comcast to abide by the Federal Com...

Microsoft joins opposition to Google-ITA deal
Microsoft has joined a lobbying coalition opposing Google's proposed acquisition of the travel search firm ITA Software on the grounds the deal would give Google unfair advantages in the online travel market. Microsoft, Foundem and ZUJI announced Monday they have joined the FairSearch.org coalition, which includes travel firms such as Expedia, Travelocity and KAYAK. The group argues Google's $700 million acquisition of ITA could lead to fewer travel choices online, less innovation and higher p...

Tech at Night: Net Neutrality, Copyright, iPhone, Verizon
Happy Weekend. As I write this it’s already the 11th, so you have two shopping weeks left before Christmas. Oops, is it still legal on the Internet not to say Holiday? Some quick hits for the weekend as we continue to wait on the FCC to explain itself and its plans for radical new Internet Regulation. George Ou points out that if Netflix gets to demand free peering with Comcast, then Netflix ought to demand free shipping over the Postal Service. After all, if neutral means free, then tha...

Pharmaceutical industry on verge of major Hill victory
The Pharmaceutical Industry is on the verge of a major victory as the lame-duck congressional session winds down. An effort to severely restrict Pharmaceutical Industry deals from delaying the entry to the market of low-cost generic drugs appears likely to die in the lame-duck. That could kill the Legislation for some time, since a Republican House is seen as unlikely to support the measure. The Senate appropriations bill includes language that would put new limits on generic drug makers’ ab...

Post-Meltdown, Banks Still Rule Derivatives Trade
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan. PROTECTING THE CUSTOMER Daniel Singer runs a heating oil company in Elmsford, N.Y., and is a Derivatives customer. In order to offer Homeowners fixed-rate oil plans, he buys Derivatives contracts. But since the trading system is not transparent, he can’t tell whether the prices he gets are fair or not. This series examines how Wall Street tries to gain an upper hand. The m...

Judge rules for Va. on health-care case
A Federal Judge in Richmond today has ruled in favor of Virginia's challenge to the federal health-care law, striking down the mandate that requires nearly every American to purchase Insurance or face a penalty. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office had argued that the Individual Mandate proviion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson , however, denied Virginia's petition for an injunct...

Judge in Va. strikes down federal health care law
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Federal Judge declared the Obama Administration's Health Care law Unconstitutional Monday, siding with Virginia's Attorney General in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first Federal Judge to strike down the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan. Several other Lawsuits have been dismissed and others are pending, including one filed by 20 other states i...

Virginia judge rules health care mandate unconstitutional
(CNN) -- A Virginia federal judge on Monday found a key part of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care reform law unconstitutional, setting the stage for a protracted legal struggle likely to wind up in the Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson struck down the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to purchase health insurance by 2014. The Justice Department is expected to challenge the judge's findings in a federal appeals court. Hudson's opinion contradicts o...

Individual Mandate is Unconstitutional, Says Federal Judge
Casting a shadow of doubt over the future of the Affordable Care Act, a Federal Judge in Virginia ruled this afternoon that a major tenet of the new health reform violates the Constitution. The decision, from George W. Bush-appointed Judge Henry Hudson, says that the Federal Government does not have the authority to require Americans to have Health Insurance. This so-called “Individual Mandate” is a critical companion to law's requirement that insurers sell coverage to everyone witho...

Judge in Va. Strikes Down Federal Health Care Law BOs Nov.2nd Nightmare Continues
Federal judge in Va. rules against Obama Administration’s Health Care law as Unconstitutional The central issue in Virginia’s Lawsuit was whether the Federal Government has the power under the constitution to impose the Insurance requirement. The Justice Department said the mandate is a proper exercise of the government’s authority under the Commerce Clause. Cuccinelli argued that while the government can regulate economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerc...

Judge rules for Va. on health-care case
A Federal Judge in Richmond today has ruled in favor of Virginia's challenge to the federal health-care law, declaring Unconstitutional a key provision -- the mandate that requires nearly every American to purchase Insurance or face a penalty. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office had argued that the Individual Mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. "On careful review, this court must conclude that Section 150...

Time Warner Takes a Shot at Netflix
For the past year, executives at big media companies have watched Netflix with growing resentment — for its success in delivering movies and television shows via the Internet, for its stock price nearly quadrupling, for its chief executive being named businessperson of the year by Fortune Magazine. Jeffrey Bewkes, chief of Time Warner, played down the market clout of Netflix. Time Warner Inc. Now many of the companies that make the shows and movies that Netflix delivers to mailboxes, co...

Planned Parenthood affiliates sign contract for merger
Dubuque County Right to Life official says the Merger shows Protests are working. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa have signed a management contract with intent to merge into one affiliate in January. The expanded organization will be named Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. "Every year, we have done more and more collaborative work with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland," said Vanessa Solesbee, Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa board cha...

Norton: Interior ethics probe a waste of money
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton says the Obama Administration “wasted millions of Taxpayer Dollars” in a nearly two-year Probe of her ties to an oil company where she took a job after leaving her post at Interior. Norton, who served as Interior secretary from 2001 to 2006, was accused of using her position to steer lucrative oil leases to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, where she took a job nine months after leaving Interior. Mary Kendall, the Interior Department...

McDonnell 'pleased' with health care ruling
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said he's pleased with Judge Henry Hudson’s ruling that the Individual Mandate to purchase Health Care Insurance in the federal Health Care overhaul is Unconstitutional. “This decision sets the correct limits on federal power in favor of individual liberty, and supports the critical tenants of federalism enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” McDonnell said. McDonnell, along with incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., also called on the Dep...

Norton: Interior ethics probe a waste of money
Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton says the Obama Administration "wasted millions of Taxpayer Dollars" in a nearly two-year Probe of her ties to an oil company where she took a job after leaving her post at Interior. Norton, who served as Interior secretary from 2001 to 2006, was accused of using her position to steer lucrative oil leases to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, where she took a job nine months after leaving Interior. Mary Kendall, the Interior Department's acting Inspector General, said Fr...

Judiciary Committee to Study Espionage Act, Legal Options Against Wikileaks
About time, doncha think? (Especially since the “Justice Department” is now indicating that no charges against Assange ‘are imminent’.) (The Hill) — Lawmakers may be getting anxious to wrap up business before the holiday recess, but the House Judiciary panel is pulling the full committee together Thursday to delve into options to tackle the Wikileaks Scandal.  The Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder are faced with difficult legal questions as t...

Geraldo: Baltimore jihad bomber was "seduced" and entrapped by the FBI
The facts, of course, are otherwise: "An affidavit filed in support of the Criminal Complaint alleges that on September 29, 2010, Martinez publicly posted on his Facebook account a statement calling for violence to stop the oppression of Muslims, and that on Oct. 1, 2010, he publicly posted a message stating that he hates any person who opposes Allah and his prophet," a Justice Department statement said. [...] "Martinez wrote that he wanted to go to Pakistan or Afghanistan, that it was his dr...

Alaska senator to pursue inquiry into ex-Veco CEO
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is continuing her effort to hold top Justice Department officials accountable for dropping the teen Sexual Exploitation prosecution of former Veco Corp. chairman Bill Allen. With Murkowski's write-in victory clearing a key legal hurdle last week, Murkowski says she plans to grill top Justice Department officials during appropriations hearings or from her post on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The 73-year-old Allen was once a powerful busi...

Former Interior Secretary Norton cleared in ethics probe
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has closed an ethics Probe of former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the Obama Administration said Friday. Norton was accused of using her position to steer lucrative oil leases on Federal Land in Colorado to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, where she took a job soon after leaving Interior. But a two-year investigation failed to prove a Conflict of Interest, said Mary Kendall, the Interior Department's acting Inspector General, who announced Justice's decision. "W...