OTI Applauds Justice Department’s Decision to Appeal AT&T/Time Warner Ruling

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will appeal a June ruling that allowed AT&T to acquire Time Warner Inc. The merger, which was announced in October 2016, combines AT&T, one the nation’s biggest internet service, cable, and telephone providers, with Time Warner, one of the nation’s biggest content creators with assets including HBO and CNN. OTI opposes this merger and called June’s ruling “a loss for consumers and the economy.”

The following quote can be attributed to Joshua Stager, Policy Counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

"We applaud the Justice Department's decision to appeal Judge Leon's ruling. This merger is a clear threat to consumers and the economy, and the Justice Department was right to challenge it on antitrust grounds.

As testimony during the trial made clear, AT&T has its sights set on targeted advertising that combines Time Warner's assets with AT&T's extensive trove of data about its customers and their online habits. This is precisely what AT&T told the FCC it would not do when it lobbied against broadband privacy rules just two years ago. Regardless of the outcome of the government's appeal, this merger underscores why it is so important for Congress to restore the FCC's broadband privacy and net neutrality rules."