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The
View from the Meadow
Observations
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Political
and Social Commentary by Dave Satre
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Bush Rebuilds AT&T Monopoly in Order to Spy on Americans By the 1970s AT&T had become an abusive monopoly and was broken up for the good of the country in 1982 after a 12-year legal battle. AT&T's local phone service companies were broken up into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), otherwise known as the Baby Bells. AT&T kept its lucrative long distance business and concentrated on other businesses, including computer services. However, the long distance market unexpectedly diminished because of competition from MCI and Sprint, the rapid expansion of the cell phone industry and low-priced Internet services. Now, Bush has enabled AT&T to re-enter the local phone service industry and work to rebuild its monopoly in exchange for access to its systems so the government can spy on its users. The company has re-acquired 11 of the 22 local service companies it owned prior to the breakup, including Verizon and Cingular. The FCC also lifted the rules designed to encourage competition in the industry during the Clinton administration. They were intended to avoid another industry monopoly that could fix prices (like the oil industry) and included the ability for small local service start-ups to provide access to AT&T's long distance network. AT&T was more than happy to agree to Bush’s spying policies in exchange for the approval of mergers and relaxation of the competition rules. Americans are the losers in this situation. Our telecommunications fees are among the highest in the world and our services are among the slowest. They are no longer even in the top 10 in the world. AT&T is now focusing on wireless services and high speed internet technologies. It wants to OWN the Internet and charge fees for just about everything. This is detrimental to the low-cost access to information required by a free society. The spying policy was due to expire on Friday, Feb. 15th, which would rescind the spying powers granted to Bush in August 2007. Bush was pushing hard to extend the government's spying powers and, at the same time, provide telephone companies with immunity against lawsuits.This is part of a continuing effort on the part of the White House Republicans to aid big business in the corporatization of America. Congress recessed without addressing the issue and Bush left the country on a trip to Africa. Links Related To This Topic: Wikipedia
The American Prospect Cybertelecom.org The Register
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