Please write to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and let them know that the public wants guaranteed open access to the Internet through broadband cable lines, and an investigation of the antitrust issues raised by the proposed AOL/Time Warner merger.
For more information about what’s at stake, please read FAIR’s Media Advisory, “AOL-Time Warner: Dawn of a Golden Age, or a Blow to Media Diversity?”
Below is a sample letter, based on FAIR’s own letter to the FCC, DOJ and FTC. We include it for your convenience, and to suggest the key points we think these agencies need to hear from the public. Of course, we encourage you to modify it to reflect your own concerns, or to compose your own letter. But please do make your voice heard now if you’re concerned about this merger.
CONTACT:
Chair Robert PitofskyFederal Trade Commission, Bureau of Competition Office of Policy and Evaluation, Room 394 Washington, D.C. 20580(877) 382-4357 or (202) 326-3300antitrust@ftc.gov
Chair William KennardFederal Communications Commission 445 12th St. SW Washington, D.C. 205541-888-225-5322 (1-888-CALL FCC) bkennard@fcc.gov
Assistant Attorney General Joel I. Klein Department of Justice, Antitrust Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20530-0001(202) 514-2007 antitrust@usdoj.gov
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Chair Kennard, Assistant Attorney General Klein and Chair Pitofsky:
As the country debates the implications of the proposed AOL/Time Warner merger, why hasn’t the public heard more from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)? I urge your agencies to conduct an immediate investigation of how this merger will impact the public interest, particularly in relation to anti-trust concerns and the industry’s commitment to open access to the Internet through broadband cable lines.
In a January 2 interview with Time Warner-owned CNN, Time Warner Chair Gerald Levin said that global media “is fast becoming the predominant business of the 21st Century.” So predominant that, according to Levin, the corporate media are now “more important than government. It’s more important than educational institutions and non-profits.”
Levin argued that given the ever-increasing power and reach of media conglomerates, “we’re going to need to have these corporations redefined as instruments of public service… and that may be a more efficient way to deal with society’s problems than bureaucratic governments.”
Should the democratic structure of our society really be scrapped in favor of global corporate governance? The question is moot, claims Levin, since “it’s going to be forced anyhow because when you have a system that is instantly available everywhere in the world immediately, then the old-fashioned regulatory system has to give way.”
Are the FCC, DOJ and FTC going to “give way”?
The AOL/Time Warner merger strongly suggests that the FCC’s stated policy of “regulatory restraint” around open-access issues has failed to protect the interests of consumers. Now that it will control Time Warner’s extensive cable network, AOL is likely to abandon its support for open-access. The FCC’s prediction that “market forces will compel cable companies to negotiate access agreements with unaffiliated ISPs, preventing cable companies from keeping systems closed and proprietary” seems to have been proven wrong.
Even if AOL decides, out of good will, to continue to support open-access, the degree of control a combined AOL/Time Warner will exercise over Internet access and the development of new media technologies shows that “market forces” are no guarantor of democratic, competitive media. The American public should not have to rely on the kindness of corporate executives to protect its access to the free flow of information.
Open-access is critical not only to assure the public of fast, affordable connections to the Internet, but because without it, the medium will increasingly grow to resemble cable television, where content is controlled by a handful of interconnected firms. High-speed connections will do the public no good if all they find on the Internet is the same corporate-dominated, advertising-driven content they get from traditional media.
An independent, dynamic and diverse media is crucial to a healthy democracy. As the Internet becomes a more integral part of the U.S. media, it is vital that democratically accountable regulatory agencies step up and assure that the public interest is the overriding factor in the development of these new technologies. I urge the FCC to act now to create rules to guarantee open access. I urge the DOJ and the FTC to investigate the antitrust issues involved in the merger as well.
Sincerely,
NAMEADDRESS
