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September 2011
Top Ten Flaws in DOJ's Case Against AT&T-T-Mobile
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2011-09-01 15:00The DOJ lawsuit against the AT&T/TMobile merger has many serious flaws that will make it difficult for the DOJ to meet its burden of proof in court that this merger is anti-competitive.
- Court cases are precedent, fact, and merit driven, and DOJ's case is much weaker in those critical dimensions than most appreciate or reports indicate.
- (See DOJ's release here and the DOJ's complaint here.)
Importantly, if the DOJ ultimately cannot prove this merger is anti-competitive in a court of law, that official legal decision would make it legally difficult for the FCC to block the merger on competition grounds under the FCC's public interest standard, especially given that the merger would bring more broadband speed more quickly to more Americans, and create jobs, which the FCC's claims are their top public interest priorities.
- Simply, the precedents, facts, and merits are friends of the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile deal.
I. Summary of Top Ten Flaws in DOJ's Case
Netflix' Uneconomics
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2011-09-06 11:58Netflix' continues to exhibit serious difficulties grasping basic economics, competition and value.
First, Netflix is lowering its value to customers.
- Netflix now charges its subscribers' 60% more in September in return for lots less premium content available for subscribers in February, as Netflix just lost Starz,its top premium content provider, which supplies 22 of Netflix' top 100 movies.
Second, Netflix is shifting its costs to its customers.
- Netflix used its abrupt and controversial 60% price hike to force many of its core users away from the DVD model that many prefer and have the viewing technology for (but costs Netflix more), to the streaming model, (which Netflix prefers because it costs them less) even if it costs many of their DVD customers to spend lots more to upgrade their viewing technology to view the streamed content in the way they can currently view DVDs.
Third, Netflix is chasing away the premium content its subscribers demand.
"G-Male:" a very funny new Google privacy satire
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2011-09-07 19:16Don't miss a new very funny Google privacy satire by Comediva that AdWeek flagged:
- G-male -- "Google engineers the perfect boyfriend: G-Male he'll anticipate your every desire based on reams of personal data." (3:13)
This adds to a great lineup of other funny Google Greatest Hits satires that I have assembled on GoogleMonitor.com:
- "Google Roommates" (3:03)
- "The G-Mailman" (2:42)
- "New Google phone service whispers targeted ads directly into users ears." (2:34)
- "Google threatens to kill users" (2:04)
- "Google opt out feature protects privacy by moving to a remote village." (2:08)
Google-Zagat a Search Conflict Can of Worms -- Top Ten Questions for FTC
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2011-09-08 15:25Google's purchase of Zagat, a leading restaurant guide and reviewer, opens a search conflict can of worms just as the FTC is in the middle of a broad antitrust investigation of Google, which includes investigating the allegation that Google deceptively favors its own content in its publicly represented unbiased search rankings.
Top ten questions for the FTC to ask Google.
Why Google's Motorola Patent Play Backfires -- My Forbes Tech Capitalist Post
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2011-09-09 18:44I am now also a contributor for Forbes writing the Tech Capitalist blog:
- Click here for my first post: Why Motorola's Patent Play Backfires.
Satirical Preview of Google's Senate Antitrust Testimony -- Google's Pinocchio Defense Part X
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2011-09-13 18:58Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, it is a real pleasure to be here today, and thank you again for not issuing that formal subpoena you had to threaten in order to compel us to testify.
Let me begin my testimony by taking this opportunity to divert the media’s attention from this hearing by making a series of Google public announcements that our news algorithms predict will bury news of today’s hearing on the second page of most search results.
Opposing "The Verge" of Socialism -- My latest Forbes Tech Capitalist post
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2011-09-16 12:01Google 21st Century Robber Baron
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2011-09-19 17:47See my Forbes post "Google 21st Century Robber Baron" which briefly tells the story of Google's Robber Baron rap sheet, in advance of Google's Wednesday Senate antitrust hearing.
- The post is documented with 79 links to the supporting evidence.
The post also explains why Google's Board of Directors have been AWOL while all this scofflaw behavior has been going on.
Netflix Crushes its Own Momentum
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2011-09-20 18:54See my Forbes post: "Netflix Crushes Its Own Momentum" here.
- "...Netflix has crushed its own growth stock momentum -- and it won’t be coming back – that pixie dust is gone forever. Netflix will never be the same...."
Google's Bait and Switch Deception Exposed at Hearing
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2011-09-22 11:10My latest Forbes blog: "Google's Bait and Switch Deception Exposed at Hearing" is here.
It describes the overarching and recurring theme of yesterday's Senate Antitrust hearing on Google, that Google built the trust of users and content owners with the bait of representations that Google Search is unbiased and only focused on the user, then once they became dominant, Google pulled the switch, and deceptively changed their business model to favor their own Google content over competitors' content, all while continuing to maintain that their search engine is still unbiased.
