Oppose the Charter-Time Warner merger

From CREDO:

The FCC is reportedly on the verge of approving the proposed $90 billion mega-merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable,1 which would create a cable and Internet behemoth nearly as big as Comcast. Combined, the new company and Comcast would control two-thirds of the nation’s high speed Internet access.2

The next few days are a critical time to pressure the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stop this bad deal for American consumers.

Can you help with a quick phone call? We’ll give you everything you need to deliver the message, and automatically connect you to the FCC commissioners who need to hear the voice of the American people.

Make a call to the FCC: Reject the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger. Call for a script and to be automatically connected to key FCC commissioners.

The proposed merger is a bad deal for consumers on a number of fronts:

It was designed to benefit the companies’ executives and Wall Street investors – not consumers. Big cable and Internet companies should be focused on improving customer service, and increasing broadband Internet speeds, not looking toward the next mega-merger that will make Wall Street happy.

If the merger is approved, Charter would take over the New York and Los Angeles broadband Internet markets, and would likely impose price increases on its customers in these diverse communities. This would exacerbate the digital divide by concentrating market power in communities where many people already struggle to afford broadband.

In a recent customer service survey, Charter ranked below hundreds of other companies – even Comcast.3 With even less competition and a captive customer base after a merger, Charter will have little incentive to actually improve customer service.
We need faster, more affordable Internet access – not further consolidation that would put more and more power into fewer hands. I hope you’ll join the broad coalition of progressive groups and activists fighting to stop the proposed merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable by calling the FCC today.

Make a call to the FCC: Reject the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger. Call for a script and to be automatically connected to key FCC commissioners.

Thanks for everything you do.

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The Time Warner merger with Charter Communications will destroy competition

From Open Media:

Big Telecom is trying to get even bigger… and customers will pay the price. Charter Communications, America’s third-biggest cable company, wants to take over Time Warner Cable, the second-largest.

If this $90 billion deal is approved by the FCC, "Mega Charter" and Comcast together would control the telecom connections to nearly 8 out of every 10 U.S. homes.

Let that sink in: two cable companies, wielding monopolistic control over your Internet service.

If they succeed, they’ll be able to raise your cable bill even higher, because you’ll have nowhere else to turn. We can't let this happen. To fight back, your OpenMedia team has joined forces with our friends at Demand Progress (and others!) to stop this.

You probably haven't heard a lot of talk of this deal, which pleases Charter.

Charter saw how spectacularly Comcast failed at their attempt to takeover Time Warner, and so they're pulling out all the stops to sell a pretty picture to decision-makers at the FCC.1

That's all well and good until you look a little closer. Existing Time Warner Cable customers would have to shell out more for the kind of broadband plans that Charter provides.

And the staggering debt that Mega Charter would take on to acquire Time Warner Cable is troubling if they're really committed to the high costs of building more broadband in rural areas.

Big Cable has repeatedly shown they can't be trusted, because they don't have to win your trust when they corner the market in your community. Tell the FCC to stand with Internet customers and oppose this deal. (We'll also forward your comment to the Senate.)

The truth is that in the long run, this merger will leave people like you with the cost — making our bills go up, flattening the quality of service, and fattening the pockets of people like Charter's Thomas Rutledge and Time Warner Cable's Robert D. Marcus — both of whom would receive more than $100 million in golden parachutes and payouts.2

Malone knows how to close a cable company merger, and he has the influence and money to do it.3

We've got to show the FCC that they must oppose this merger if they want to cement a legacy of broadband access and competition. Will you send a comment to the FCC today?

Together, we can stop Big Cable from getting even bigger.

Thanks.

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The consumer will lose if the Charter-Time Warner merger goes through

From Free Press Action Fund:

This week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler admitted that he “has not done enough” to encourage competition between cable giants.1

We appreciate the chairman's sentiments — and have something he can do right now: Block the $90 billion merger between Charter and Time Warner Cable.

In fact, Wheeler has all the power he needs to stop this deal, a move that would encourage competition rather than crush it.

Take action now: Tell Chairman Wheeler to stop Charter.

If this merger is approved, Charter and Comcast would offer service to nearly 80 percent of U.S. homes.

Together they would have unprecedented control over our ability to connect and communicate. Without any other meaningful competition, they’d be able to charge us whatever they want for our connections. Higher prices would leave even more people on the wrong side of the digital divide — hitting low-income communities of color the hardest.

Wheeler knows "digital divide" isn't just some wonky term — it’s a chasm that affects people's day-to-day lives.2

Here’s the question: Will Wheeler do more to encourage competition — or will he stand with Big Cable? The choice is his.

Tell Wheeler to stop Charter before it gobbles up the competition, raises rates and makes it even harder for people to get online.

Thanks for all that you do—

Mary Alice, Candace, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net

P.S. Rumor has it that the FCC could vote on Charter’s takeover of Time Warner Cable as soon as March. Your voice is needed right now: Tell Chairman Wheeler to block the merger. Thank you!

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Comcast is on the ropes now is time to deliver the knockout punch

From Demand Progress:

Comcast is already America's most-hated corporation — but now it wants to take over Time Warner Cable and expand its empire to include the wires that reach into 60% of Americans' homes.

The Federal Communications Commission heard us and supported our demands for Net Neutrality, but the massive cable monopoly that Comcast wants to build will have the market and political power to circumvent or strip away critical consumer protections.

Will you submit a comment to the FCC and tell them to block Comcast?

But all of a sudden things aren't looking great for Comcast. For the second time in just a few months, activists and consumers have one of the country's most powerful corporations on the ropes. You can help us throw the knockout punch.

Reports over the last week or so make it clear that we have allies inside of two regulatory bodies that would need to approve the merger: The attorneys who oversee the proposal for the Department of Justice look poised to urge that it be blocked. And the FCC is forcing the proposal through a particularly rigorous process.

It's not a done deal yet, but Comcast is flailing — let's finish them off. Just click here.

Ted Cruz is a sell out

From Demand Progress:

Please help us call out the key Republican lawmakers who are shilling for Big Cable and working to kill Net Neutrality:

Americans overwhelmingly support Net Neutrality, but several dozen Republicans who sit on the committees that oversee the Federal Communications Commission are trying to kill it.

They just signed a letter in opposition to the Net Neutrality proposal millions of Americans and President Obama back – and Senator Ted Cruz even called Net Neutrality “Obamacare for the Internet” !

They're opposing the will of their constituents, and trying to undermine a platform that facilitates speech, democracy, and innovation like no other in the history of humankind.

Why would they behave that way? Well, they’re just doing the bidding of Comcast, AT&T, and the other big cable monopolies – who, incidentally, have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to their campaigns.

Click on the link below -- we'll connect you to these Republican lawmakers and provide you with a script that you can use to tell them to stop shilling for Big Cable:

Click here to visit our new site and make phone calls to them -- it'll just take a couple of minutes.

Let's let 'em have it.

-Demand Progress

Sign the petition

I never thought I would see the day that Ted Cruz abandoned the side of liberty but he did. It turns out he sold out to the establishment at the expense of the people. I guess it goes to show that sooner or later an actor is going to stop acting and be themselves. Now I believe we are seeing the real Ted Cruz who is a statist after all.

Protect Net Neutrality protest the Time Warner/Comcast merger

From Free Press Action Fund:

Comcast treats its customers so horribly that folks are now documenting their experiences with the company. Perhaps you've heard the excerpt from that epic phone call where the company refused to let a customer cancel his service?

And both Comcast Doesn't Give a F*CK3 (NSFW, language!) and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver4 have skewered Comcast's terrible tactics.

It seems like everyone has a story about how awful Comcast is. And since the company's pulling out all the stops to sell its merger with Time Warner Cable, it's more important than ever for people like you to speak out about how bad Comcast really is.

What's your story? Tell the FCC why you oppose this merger.

We will deliver your comments to the Federal Communications Commission, which has the power to block this merger. Comcast's shelling out millions of dollars to push this deal, and it's crucial that Washington decision-makers hear your stories before they make up their minds.

Comcast has the worst track record: Horrific customer service. Constant rate hikes. Net Neutrality violations. It's no wonder the public recently voted it the Worst Company in America (for the second time).

We can't let Comcast get any bigger. Speak out and tell the FCC what you think.

Together we can stop this merger.

Thanks for all that you do—

Mary Alice, Candace, Misty and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net

P.S. We're working round the clock to stop this merger. Help support our campaign with a donation of $10 (or more!) today. Thank you!

Comcast + Time Warner Cable = Disaster for the rest of us

From Free Press Action Fund:

Comcast just announced that it’s buying Time Warner Cable. If approved, this outrageous deal would create a television and Internet colossus like no other. The fight to stop this merger begins today.

Comcast is the country's #1 cable and Internet company and Time Warner Cable is #2. Put them together and you get a single giant controlling a massive share of our nation’s TV and Internet-access markets.

Fight to Stop the Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger.

No one woke up this morning wishing their cable company was bigger or had more control over what they watch and how they get online. But that's the reality we’ll face unless the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission do their jobs and block this merger.

Stopping this kind of deal is exactly why we have antitrust laws. After a year of sustained organizing, we convinced the DoJ and the FCC to stop AT&T from gobbling up T-Mobile. With your help we can stop this deal too.

Take Action: Say No to Comcast/Time Warner Cable

This merger would put more than a third of all cable-TV subscribers in Comcast’s hands and give it control over more than half of the “triple-play” services that combine TV, phone and Internet service. Don’t forget, Comcast already owns NBC, MSNBC, Universal Studios and tons of cable networks. That means that for most of America, Comcast could control even more of what you see and how you see it.

Putting this much power in the hands of one company is dangerous. This deal would lead to less consumer choice, less diversity and much higher cable bills.

Send a message to the DoJ and the FCC today. This is a fight we can win. Take action and we’ll be back in touch soon with next steps.

Thanks for all that you do—

Craig, Josh, Amy and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net

P.S. Comcast is spending $44 billion to buy Time Warner Cable. Could you donate $44 today and fund the fight to stop this merger? We don't take money from business, government or political parties and rely on the generosity of people like you to fuel our work. Please donate $44 (or whatever amount you can give) today. Thank you!

Six strikes makes your ISP your online parents

From Demand Progress:

Tell ISPs: No "Six Strikes" Plan -- Or We'll Take Our Business Elsewhere

Here it comes: After over a year of secret negotiations with the players who pushed SOPA, the major Internet Service Providers on the verge of implementing their "Six Strikes" plan to fight "online infringement". With essentially no due process, AT&T, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon will get on your case if you're accused of violating intellectual property rights -- and eventually even interfere with your ability to access the Internet. (You can contest accusations -- if you fork over $35.)

After the first few supposed violations, they'll alert you that your connection was engaging in behavior that they -- the giant corporations that provide your Internet service -- deem inappropriate.

And then it gets really dicey: They can make it difficult for you to access the web, or start throttling down your connection. From Wired:

After four alerts, according to the program, “mitigation measures” may commence. They include “temporary reductions of Internet speeds, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP to discuss the matter or reviews and responds to some educational information about copyright, or other measures (as specified in published policies) that the ISP may deem necessary to help resolve the matter.”

That's right: These mega-corporations now claim the authority to undermine your Internet access -- and want to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. Tell them to back off -- or that you'll start looking for other places to bring your business.

Just add your name at right to tell the ISPs to back down.

To sign the petition:click here

You pay your ISP for internet service now you can pay them to be your parents too. If this appeals to you do nothing,you don't deserve this republic serviceMEN died for. On the other hand If you're not a big fan of this maneuver then sign the petition. The freedoms you save may be your own.