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posted by chromas on Monday August 17 2020, @11:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the merger-conditions-go-poof dept.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/charter-can-charge-online-video-sites-for-network-connections-court-rules/

Charter can charge Netflix and other online video streaming services for network interconnection despite a merger condition prohibiting the practice, a federal appeals court ruled today.

The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturns two merger conditions that the Obama administration imposed on Charter when it bought Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in 2016. The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai did not defend the merits of the merger conditions in court, paving the way for today's ruling. The case was decided in a 2-1 vote by a panel of three DC Circuit judges.

[...] The case turned largely on the question of whether the consumers who sued had standing to challenge the conditions. Even if other factors besides interconnection contributed to the price increases, "the subscribers need not show that prohibiting paid interconnection agreements caused the entirety of the price increases, or even that it caused price increases of some specific amount," judges wrote. "For standing purposes, even a small financial injury is enough, and the consumers have shown a substantial likelihood that their bills are higher because of the prohibition on paid interconnection agreements."

[...] Charter told the FCC in a filing that it doesn't "currently" plan to impose data caps or charge video providers for interconnection, but the company wants the prohibitions lifted because they "put Charter at a competitive disadvantage" and "forc[e] Charter to run its network based on arbitrary merger conditions instead of market conditions." Charter's filing also claimed that broadband plans with data caps are "often popular" with consumers.

[...] Wood [VP of policy at consumer-advocacy group Free Press] pointed to a Free Press filing to the FCC that he said shows "Charter was delivering better value and getting better financial results for itself than any other big wired ISP. So the notion that either Charter or its customers have suffered from the conditions is a joke, as is any claim by the litigants that unconditioned mergers and monopolies are somehow better for people."


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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday August 18 2020, @02:25PM (14 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday August 18 2020, @02:25PM (#1038356) Journal

    As I've repeatedly noted, voting doesn't work that way.

    You are a collective, just like the commies.

    Each individual can turn on a dime, as I have repeated noted... When they turn together, amazing things happen, things you would never believe. You own momentum is the problem, nothing else to it.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:24AM (13 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:24AM (#1038656) Journal

    things you would never believe.

    Indeed.

    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:30AM (12 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:30AM (#1038660) Journal

      Well, that's because you're unbelievable :-)

      Big things would happen, whether you believe it or not.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 19 2020, @03:26AM (11 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 19 2020, @03:26AM (#1038689) Journal

        Big things would happen, whether you believe it or not.

        Except if they don't happen, say because reality happens to be close enough to what I believe. This low content discussion isn't going anywhere. And I think the problem is because you've been begging the question from the start. You've attributed a degree of responsiveness to voting and such. When it doesn't happen, then you blame the voter. My take is that's like blaming the 787 MAX crashes on pilot error.

        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:25AM (10 children)

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:25AM (#1038725) Journal

          Except if they don't happen...

          They don't happen because you choose to be slow. We find your lack of cooperation disturbing.

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 19 2020, @10:45AM (9 children)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 19 2020, @10:45AM (#1038766) Journal

            They don't happen because you choose to be slow.

            More begging the question.

            • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:05PM (8 children)

              by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:05PM (#1038814) Journal

              Maybe you are. In reality, there is no question. Nature is nature. You should learn to accept that

              --
              La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:21PM (7 children)

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:21PM (#1039097) Journal
                A sign of begging the question is increasingly circuitous or irrational language to rationalize why assumptions should remain unquestioned. "Nature is nature" is a classic example, trying to deflect criticism with a trivial tautology. Nothing is actually said here.
                • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:52PM (6 children)

                  by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:52PM (#1039117) Journal

                  You simply don't question nature. And you certainly don't pretend you're not natural

                  --
                  La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:29AM (5 children)

                    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:29AM (#1039244) Journal

                    You simply don't question nature.

                    Sounds like confirmation that you aren't a scientist.

                    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:39AM (4 children)

                      by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:39AM (#1039248) Journal

                      Science does not question the authority of nature. You shouldn't either. It would be quite presumptuous

                      --
                      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:47PM (3 children)

                        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:47PM (#1039329) Journal

                        Science does not question the authority of nature.

                        Goalposts got moved. What does the authority of nature have to do with this thread?

                        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:27PM (2 children)

                          by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:27PM (#1039419) Journal

                          You are under nature's authority. And nature says you and everybody else can turn on a dime, just like those little birdies (you already do, in slow motion), when you want to... To state otherwise is a lie

                          --
                          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:21PM

                            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:21PM (#1039455) Journal
                            Because?
                          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:56PM

                            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:56PM (#1039573) Journal
                            I want to note that my "Because?" question is quite relevant. A genuine answer to that would explain what the nature of whatever the hell you think we're talking about is, rather than just retreat to the empty tautology "nature is nature". My take here is that you don't have a clue what nature is, much less what it's supposed authority would be or why that would be at all relevant to this thread. This is classic begging the question behavior.