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My knowledge of Anti-Trust laws dates back to elementary school, but how is it legal for the companies that maintain the infrastructure to be in the content gam
by gdubs 13y ago
My knowledge of Anti-Trust laws dates back to elementary school, but how is it legal for the companies that maintain the infrastructure to be in the content game as well, when other content providers can't compete on favorable pricing for bandwidth?
- graedus 13y agoBecause it's considered "vertical integration" and therefore not subject to anti-trust laws. Comcast merging with Time Warner would be considered horizontal; Comcast merging with NBCU was considered vertical and therefore allowed to go forward in January 2011. I'm currently reading Susan Crawford's book Captive Audience, which is a detailed history of this exact topic. Recommended. Here's a talk she gave at Harvard summarizing the story and issues at stake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R4xhwy-1oI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R4xhwy-1oI
- pessimizer 13y agoSince when has vertical integration not been subject to antitrust laws? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Paramount_Pictures,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Paramount_Pic....
- graedus 13y agoNot sure, but since at least 2011 :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast_NBC_merger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast_NBC_merger (thanks for the link, interesting reading)
- smackfu 13y agoIt definitely is. The Comcast / NBC merger had to be approved by the DOJ who only allowed it with conditions. http://www.ustelecom.org/news/newsletters/broadband-connection-depth/depth-comcast-nbc-merger-commitments http://www.ustelecom.org/news/newsletters/broadband-connecti...