36 ms·

FCC Chair Brendan Carr is letting ISPs merge–as long as they end DEI programs

114 points by rntn 1y ago

thrance 1y ago
This is how mafia works. Be loyal, do the boss's bidding and you shall be rewarded. Slip and be sent to an El Salvador black site.
op00to 1y ago
Hilarious that companies like Verizon get pushed around by dopes like Carr and Trump.
- jaoane 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - aaronbrethorst 1y ago
    This seems relevant: https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/ https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/
    - jaoane 1y ago
      [flagged]
      - aaronbrethorst 1y ago
        I know it's fun to pretend that HN is a hive mind, but it's really not. Trying to not-gotcha people on here under the presumption that they are responsible for the opinions of someone else is reductive and frankly kind of boring.
      - mistrial9 1y ago
        guidelines for posting on YNews https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- stackskipton 1y ago
  Companies will only fight back on things that impact their short-term bottom line. Ending DEI is unlikely to impact their bottom line but mergers do so out with DEI programs they go.
  - rdtsc 1y ago
    > Companies will only fight back on things that impact their short-term bottom line. The speed with which they all dropped DEI programs was shocking. Especially after years of saying how it's critical, it makes them more vibrant, stronger, etc. I guess they never believed any of that. It seems Stripe CEO is the only one left wondering what the heck happened: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/16/john-collison-of-stripe-i-am-baffled-by-companies-doing-an-about-face-on-social-initiatives/ https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/16/john-collison... ( https://archive.ph/5PFgq https://archive.ph/5PFgq ) > “I am baffled by all the companies doing an about-face on their social initiatives right now. Did you not actually mean it in the first place? Either don’t do it, or do it and stay doing it, but don’t do this ‘DEI is cancelled now’,” he says. “It’s very odd to me.”
    - tdeck 1y ago
      I think these companies found it harder to hire, and thus worked harder to look good to perspective employees. Now with the hiring market being reset in a way that favors employers, a lot of that is going away.
      - acdha 1y ago
        I think that’s right, extending hiring to include retention. Tech workers had an almost two decade run of extremely high negotiating power and many used that to have more influence on company policies than most workers are allowed. There’s a theory that what we’re seeing now is more resentment about upsetting the power dynamic than any actual cost these guys suffered, and that’s compatible with e.g. those leaked group chats.
    - 9283409232 1y ago
      Credit to him I guess. Someone should keep a list of companies that are sticking to their guns.
shakna 1y ago
"DEI discimination". Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion... Discrimination. What is it with Donald's administration that they so eagerly embrace DoubleThink?
- rwaksmunski 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - notsayinmch 1y ago
    [flagged]
- winrid 1y ago
  I've literally been in meetings were managers said they couldn't hire someone because they weren't a minority. (edit: also to clarify I think what the Trump admin is doing - bribing to take a different political stance - and allowing monopolies - is bad)
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - ok_dad 1y ago
    I’ve been in a meeting where my boss said he didn’t want to hire any more Indians because they aren’t fun to talk to at lunch, so I guess our two stories cancel out?
    - netik 1y ago
      Two racists make a right (winger) I guess.
    - jjtheblunt 1y ago
      > so I guess our two stories cancel out? and emit a photon and antineutrino? (nerd alert...). https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/reactor-physics/atomic-nuclear-physics/fundamental-particles/what-is-antimatter/matter-antimatter-creation-and-annihilation/ https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/reactor-physics/...
tootie 1y ago
Carr has been pretty clear the FCC will do whatever Trump wants despite their status as an independent agency. Mergers and spectrum and whatever will be handed out to politically compliant outlets.
- SimianSci 1y ago
  We commonly use the word 'tool' to describe such people because it is the best descriptor. Carr has shown himself to be nakedly partisan, and at risk of doing serious damage to the industry. Anyone who believes otherwise should be referred to his consistent rhetoric that news agencies that show unfavorable coverage to the Trump administration will be investigated and brought to heel. https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets-as-chair-of-the-fcc/ https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-ta...
robert_foss 1y ago
American institutions are truly being gutted and weaponized.
Animats 1y ago
Verizon buying Frontier. Charter buying Cox. So we're mostly down to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Charter. Verizon previously tried to merge with Charter back in 2017, but that didn't work out.[1] [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-is-exploring-combination-with-cable-firm-charter-communications-1485439901 https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-is-exploring-combinatio...
- walrus01 1y ago
  There's also the big cable MSO that is the combined RCN, Wave, Grande (now being rebranded as Astound), also owned/run by some wall street finance types. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&channel=entpr&q=rcn+wave+grande https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&channel=ent... Then you've got things like Canada's Bell buying a controlling interest in Ziply, which acquired Frontier Northwest 4-5 years ago.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- meerinor 1y ago
  And Lumen... but no, the list is longer, altice, windstream, wow, brightspeed, astound... the trend is definitely towards consolidation the past five years now, Nitel buys Hypercore, Comcast buys Nitel, Zayo and CCF, Comcast and and massergy, sprint wireline to tmo... etc.
blacksmith_tb 1y ago
So newly-enlarged (and emboldened) ISPs will happily screw over white folks and people of color without a hint of bias, now that's what I call progress marching forward.
- NoGravitas 1y ago
  The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
pipallweek 1y ago
It's troubling that regulatory decisions—especially ones as consequential as telecom mergers—are being linked to culture war issues like DEI. Regardless of one’s stance on DEI, using merger approvals as leverage to shape corporate HR policies feels like a distortion of the FCC's role. The focus should be on competition, service quality, and consumer impact, not ideology. If the goal is better broadband and more choices, tying that to internal company programs seems like a strange detour.

114 points by rntn 1y ago

This is how mafia works. Be loyal, do the boss's bidding and you shall be rewarded. Slip and be sent to an El Salvador black site.

op00to 1y ago

Hilarious that companies like Verizon get pushed around by dopes like Carr and Trump.

jaoane 1y ago
[flagged]
- aaronbrethorst 1y ago
  This seems relevant: https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/ https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/
  - jaoane 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - aaronbrethorst 1y ago
      I know it's fun to pretend that HN is a hive mind, but it's really not. Trying to not-gotcha people on here under the presumption that they are responsible for the opinions of someone else is reductive and frankly kind of boring.
    - mistrial9 1y ago
      guidelines for posting on YNews https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
stackskipton 1y ago
Companies will only fight back on things that impact their short-term bottom line. Ending DEI is unlikely to impact their bottom line but mergers do so out with DEI programs they go.
- rdtsc 1y ago
  > Companies will only fight back on things that impact their short-term bottom line. The speed with which they all dropped DEI programs was shocking. Especially after years of saying how it's critical, it makes them more vibrant, stronger, etc. I guess they never believed any of that. It seems Stripe CEO is the only one left wondering what the heck happened: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/16/john-collison-of-stripe-i-am-baffled-by-companies-doing-an-about-face-on-social-initiatives/ https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/05/16/john-collison... ( https://archive.ph/5PFgq https://archive.ph/5PFgq ) > “I am baffled by all the companies doing an about-face on their social initiatives right now. Did you not actually mean it in the first place? Either don’t do it, or do it and stay doing it, but don’t do this ‘DEI is cancelled now’,” he says. “It’s very odd to me.”
  - tdeck 1y ago
    I think these companies found it harder to hire, and thus worked harder to look good to perspective employees. Now with the hiring market being reset in a way that favors employers, a lot of that is going away.
    - acdha 1y ago
      I think that’s right, extending hiring to include retention. Tech workers had an almost two decade run of extremely high negotiating power and many used that to have more influence on company policies than most workers are allowed. There’s a theory that what we’re seeing now is more resentment about upsetting the power dynamic than any actual cost these guys suffered, and that’s compatible with e.g. those leaked group chats.
  - 9283409232 1y ago
    Credit to him I guess. Someone should keep a list of companies that are sticking to their guns.

shakna 1y ago

"DEI discimination". Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion... Discrimination. What is it with Donald's administration that they so eagerly embrace DoubleThink?

rwaksmunski 1y ago
[flagged]
- notsayinmch 1y ago
  [flagged]
winrid 1y ago
I've literally been in meetings were managers said they couldn't hire someone because they weren't a minority. (edit: also to clarify I think what the Trump admin is doing - bribing to take a different political stance - and allowing monopolies - is bad)
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- ok_dad 1y ago
  I’ve been in a meeting where my boss said he didn’t want to hire any more Indians because they aren’t fun to talk to at lunch, so I guess our two stories cancel out?
  - netik 1y ago
    Two racists make a right (winger) I guess.
  - jjtheblunt 1y ago
    > so I guess our two stories cancel out? and emit a photon and antineutrino? (nerd alert...). https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/reactor-physics/atomic-nuclear-physics/fundamental-particles/what-is-antimatter/matter-antimatter-creation-and-annihilation/ https://www.nuclear-power.com/nuclear-power/reactor-physics/...

tootie 1y ago

Carr has been pretty clear the FCC will do whatever Trump wants despite their status as an independent agency. Mergers and spectrum and whatever will be handed out to politically compliant outlets.

SimianSci 1y ago
We commonly use the word 'tool' to describe such people because it is the best descriptor. Carr has shown himself to be nakedly partisan, and at risk of doing serious damage to the industry. Anyone who believes otherwise should be referred to his consistent rhetoric that news agencies that show unfavorable coverage to the Trump administration will be investigated and brought to heel. https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets-as-chair-of-the-fcc/ https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-ta...

robert_foss 1y ago

American institutions are truly being gutted and weaponized.

Animats 1y ago

Verizon buying Frontier. Charter buying Cox. So we're mostly down to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Charter. Verizon previously tried to merge with Charter back in 2017, but that didn't work out.[1] [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-is-exploring-combination-with-cable-firm-charter-communications-1485439901 https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-is-exploring-combinatio...

walrus01 1y ago
There's also the big cable MSO that is the combined RCN, Wave, Grande (now being rebranded as Astound), also owned/run by some wall street finance types. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&channel=entpr&q=rcn+wave+grande https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&channel=ent... Then you've got things like Canada's Bell buying a controlling interest in Ziply, which acquired Frontier Northwest 4-5 years ago.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
meerinor 1y ago
And Lumen... but no, the list is longer, altice, windstream, wow, brightspeed, astound... the trend is definitely towards consolidation the past five years now, Nitel buys Hypercore, Comcast buys Nitel, Zayo and CCF, Comcast and and massergy, sprint wireline to tmo... etc.

blacksmith_tb 1y ago

So newly-enlarged (and emboldened) ISPs will happily screw over white folks and people of color without a hint of bias, now that's what I call progress marching forward.

NoGravitas 1y ago
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

pipallweek 1y ago

It's troubling that regulatory decisions—especially ones as consequential as telecom mergers—are being linked to culture war issues like DEI. Regardless of one’s stance on DEI, using merger approvals as leverage to shape corporate HR policies feels like a distortion of the FCC's role. The focus should be on competition, service quality, and consumer impact, not ideology. If the goal is better broadband and more choices, tying that to internal company programs seems like a strange detour.