Tag: Comcast

Hulu’s owners – Disney, News Corp. and Comcast, which respectively own ABC, Fox and NBC – want to ruin the future of TV.1 If they have their way, you’ll need a cable subscription to watch any TV show on the Internet.

They want to move to a so-called “authentication” system that would allow only cable TV subscribers to access shows on Hulu.

It’s just the latest in their ongoing efforts to derail Internet innovation and control the future of television. Sign this letter to stop Disney, News Corp. and Comcast from putting the Internet genie back in the bottle.

Sign the Petition

Hulu has created a revolution in how millions watch TV – putting control over what what we watch in the hands of viewers. But your decision to allow only cable subscribers to access TV shows on Hulu would take away all that.

The Internet is the future of TV. Stop trying to derail innovation. Reverse your backwards decision to restrict access to TV programming online.

I think that this Tweet from Greenwald’s summed up the reaction to this news:

Can’t recall reading a news article in quite some time that produces as much intense nausea as this one

Meredith Attwell Baker, one of the two Republican Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, plans to step down-and right into a top lobbying job at Comcast-NBC.

The news, reported this afternoon by the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, and Politico, comes after the hugely controversial merger of Comcast and NBC earlier this year. At the time, Baker objected to FCC attempts to impose conditions on the deal and argued that the “complex and significant transaction” could “bring exciting benefits to consumers that outweigh potential harms.”

Four months after approving the massive transaction, Attwell Baker will take a top DC lobbying job for the new Comcast-NBC entity, according to reports.

Comcast press release:

WASHINGTON, DC  –  May 11, 2011

Meredith Attwell Baker will join Comcast as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, NBCUniversal.  Ms. Baker currently serves as a member of the Federal Communications Commission.  Her current term at the Commission expires at the end of June 2011.

Kyle McSlarrow, President of Comcast/NBCUniversal for Washington, DC, said, “Commissioner Baker is one of the nation’s leading authorities on communications policy and we’re thrilled she’s agreed to head the government relations operations for NBCUniversal.  Meredith’s executive branch and business experience along with her exceptional relationships in Washington bring Comcast and NBCUniversal the perfect combination of skills.”

“I’ve been privileged to serve in government for the past seven years under President Obama at the FCC and President Bush at NTIA, I’m excited to embark on a new phase of my career with Comcast and NBCUniversal,” said Ms. Baker.

Ms. Baker, a Republican, was appointed to the FCC by President Obama in June of 2009. I guess he couldn’t find a Democrat. Mission accomplished