The report also compares the merger to the antitrust suit recently filed by the Department of Justice against a group of publishers and Apple over allegations they conspired to set the prices of e-books. The opponents will hold a briefing on Monday afternoon at Russell Senate Office Building for members of Congress and the media. The Antitrust panel released its list of witnesses for the hearing yesterday; the names include representatives from Universal and EMI, as well as Warner Music, Live Nation and Public Knowledge. Expect grandstanding this week, with stakeholders on both sides seeking political backing for their positions. But the Justice Department has ultimate say over whether the merger moves forward.
Quotable: “In simple terms the post-merger firm would have a strong incentive and increased ability to exercise market power to undermine, delay, and distort new digital distribution business models, in a market that has been a tight oligopoly for over a decade. The FTC must take steps to prevent this severe harm to competition and consumers.” — Consumer Federation of America director of research Dr. Mark Cooper Rockefeller Introduces Cramming Legislation: Senate Commerce chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., introduced a bill on Thursday (S 3291) aimed at protecting consumers from unauthorized third-party charges on there phone bills. The practice, known as "cramming," was the subject of a year-long investigation by the Committee, which prompted AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink to move to eliminate cramming on their landline phone bills by stopping most third-party charges that aren't for telephone-related services such as collect calls or TV service. Rockefeller's bill would require other phone carriers to take the same steps and would extend its protections to wireless customers, who are also the target of dubious third-party charges. The legislation directs the FCC to develop rules to ensure wireless customers are protected from cramming and reimbursed for any unauthorized charges. House Telecom Subpanel Announces Hearings: House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., announced Thursday that his panel will hold a hearing on June 27 addressing the future of the video and how changes in technology and online video affected the market. The announcement comes shortly after reports the Justice Department is probing allegations the cable companies conspired to quash competition from online video providers like Netflix. The Senate Commerce Committee held its own future of video hearing in April. In addition, the telecom subpanel will hold an FCC oversight hearing on July 10, featuring all five Commissioners. Expect Walden to pursue some of the issues addressed by his FCC process reform legislation, such as the length and number of conditions the FCC attaches to merger reviews. FCC Spending Bill Includes Auction Funds: CQ Budget Tracker's George Cahlink informs us that the Senate Financial Services fiscal 2013 appropriations bill (S 3301) includes $347.8 million for the FCC, a 2.3 percent increase from the funding authorized for fiscal 2012. The bill also authorizes the FCC to retain up to $99 million from the proceeds of its upcoming spectrum auctions to cover the costs of administering the sales.The Committee reported the bill by a vote of 16-14, it will now head to the full Senate for consideration.The committee report for the draft bill also reportedly contained some language directing the FCC and FTC to come up with consumer guidance on how to protect their personal information when using wireless networks. The goal would be to prevent another episode like the Google "Wi-Spy" scandal, when the search giant's Street View vehicles downloaded payload data from unsecured networks. The FCC's subsequent investigation concluded no laws were broken, since the networks were unsecured.
Babbage on Uber: Finding a taxi in Washington while it's raining is no easy feat, as The Economist's Babbage recently found out. One potential solution: the mobile app Uber, which allows users to hitch a ride with a private car that's in their vicinity using a smartphone app. The service charges a premium above the typical taxi rate in cities where it operates, and in return users are assured of a comfortable ride in a clean car, without having to haggle over the fare. But Uber has faced considerable opposition in D.C. and other cities from taxi commissions, who view it as an infringement on their business. Also from The Economist's Science and Technology Section this Week:Scientists in France have worked up a new way to determine whether there is life on other planets, using telescopes based in space.
Chinese car manufacturers are rushing to outfit their vehicles with entertainment systems powered by Google's Android mobile operating system.