You guys made some calls to the legislature in Pennsylvania about a terrible telecom bill a few weeks ago, and it looks like that bill was delayed or died. Beth McConnell has more on the details.

The FCC has also delayed its vote on the AT&T-Bellsouth merger for one day, with Republican-appointed Commissioner Robert McDowell recusing himself from the vote because of conflicts of interest.  We'll see what happens - it seems like McDowell has integrity and a willingness to stand up to the enormous pressure he's probably under. The Republican Party desperately needs more people like McDowell.  

With the Commissioners at 3-2, this makes things very interesting.  The two Democrats are actually, you know, public servants looking out for the public.  Kevin Martin can't push this through with a 2-2 vote, so he's going to have to force McDowell to vote or delay this.  He's giving himself a day, I suppose.

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This is stunning news.  The Justice Department has OK'd, with a simple press release, a massive merger between Bellsouth and AT&T with no conditions and without a consent decree or judicial review, effectively reconstituting much of the old AT&T monopoly.  The new AT&T will control nearly half of the landlines in the country, and the CEO of AT&T is already on record essentially saying he's going to get rid of net neutrality.

Over the past decade, there has been a wave of telecom mergers, and these have concentrated the telecommunications business quite radically.  Prior to a merger, the DOJ usually goes through with consent decree in which it describes possible concerns and conditions for a merged entity, which are then reviewed by a judge.  That's what both Republican and Democratic Congressmen asked the Department of Justice to do in this case as well.

Two influential senators urged the FCC and Justice Department to consider imposing conditions on the proposed AT&T and BellSouth telecommunications merger.

In a letter to both agencies, Sens. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., said divestitures of company assets may be needed, along with curbs on the ability of the merged parties to "warehouse" spectrum, thus restricting it from competitors.

They also offered this warning: "The significant expansion in size and scope heralded by this merger makes it important for your agencies to be mindful of the general competition policy concern" of maintaining open markets.

Their proposals are at odds with last week's recommendation from Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that no conditions be placed on the transaction, which would create the nation's largest telecom company.

Meanwhile, two House members -- Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and John Conyers of Michigan, the panel's top Democrat -- urged Justice to refrain from ruling on the merger until a court review of two previous telecom deals is complete. Under the so-called Tunney Act, the U.S. district court in Washington is automatically reviewing the MCI-Verizon Communications and AT&T-SBC Communications mergers.

This move, to sidestep judicial review of this merger, is a slap in the face of Senator Dewine and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who already had his Judiciary committee's jurisdiction stripped by Hastert and Barton earlier in the net neutrality fight.  This is the equivalent of one of Bush's signing statements, where he simply goes around the regular legislative process.  This is a slap not only at Republicans and Democrats in Congress, it's also a slap at the Judicial branch, which the DOJ has stripped of power, because judges have shown an unwillingness to accept the idea that concentrating power like this has no anticompetitive effects.

The last check on this merger is the FCC, which may make its decision tomorrow.  The FCC needs to include net neutrality provisions as part of the merger conditions, or else AT&T is going to begin its massive merger and planned capital expenditures with the understand that it can discriminate against content. Write the FCC using this tool provided by Freepress.  You can find out a lot more about the AT&T-Bellsouth merger here: http://www.freepress.net/att/

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I read this post from Atrios on the big telcos cooperating with the NSA and was just about to shrug my shoulders about the latest outrage.  Then I actually read the article and something jumped out - these companies have a choice in whether to participate in spying on Americans without warrants.

AT&T recently merged with SBC and kept the AT&T name. Verizon, BellSouth and AT&T are the nation's three biggest telecommunications companies; they provide local and wireless phone service to more than 200 million customers.

The three carriers control vast networks with the latest communications technologies. They provide an array of services: local and long-distance calling, wireless and high-speed broadband, including video. Their direct access to millions of homes and businesses has them uniquely positioned to help the government keep tabs on the calling habits of Americans.

Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.

Qwest's refusal to participate has left the NSA with a hole in its database. Based in Denver, Qwest provides local phone service to 14 million customers in 14 states in the West and Northwest. But AT&T and Verizon also provide some services -- primarily long-distance and wireless -- to people who live in Qwest's region. Therefore, they can provide the NSA with at least some access in that area.

Qwest refused to help?  And Verizon and AT&T (which bought Bellsouth) acted as nice little sycophants?  Wow.  I always hated Verizon because of their customer service, and AT&T is run by a megalomaniac named Ed Whitacre who likes to destroy trees in his spare time.  But I still assumed that cooperation with the government was mandatory.  It's not.  These companies are aiding and abetting the NSA in illegal activity.  And not only are they aiding and abetting the NSA, they are possibly engaging in illegal corporate behavior.  That at least is how Qwest is reading the law.

Telecommunications is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country.  These companies regularly depreciated billions of dollars annually in tax write-offs, and the franchise agreements and subsidies are monstrously complicated.  Entire armies of spoiled rich DC brats have been sent through private schools with telecom money that went to their lobbyist parents.

This is a disgrace.  An absolute disgrace.  Shame on ATT.  Shame on Verizon.  I'm glad I use Sprint and don't have a landline.  And if I were a mayor or a Governor, I would try to move contracts away from these companies and towards Qwest or other telco players.  At the very least I'd make local subsidies contingent upon not spying on my constituents.

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