A Shift in Telecommunications

In these modern days, we have the freedom to select and consume a wide variety of information, right? Well! not exactly. We do have access to enormous streams of information, but did you know that the majority of those streams actually come from very few sources. Consider the broad effects of this current format and ask yourself what information that you see each day is provided by a large corporation and what do they stand to benefit from it?Next ask how many different people are affected by this? The truth is that everyone is. The customer, the news reporter, the filmmaker, the artist, and the advertiser are controlled by the monopolies that allow us to share our creative works, or to view what they choose for us to see.This is not the first time the monopolization of information has happened. One hundred years ago, in 1913 AT&T (Ma Bell) became the ultimate telecommunication monopoly. They even averted an antitrust lawsuit by convincing the US President that it was for the greater good of society that they should be allowed to sustain their enormous size.In 1982 their luck ended and the government won a court order, causing them to split into seven operating companies knows as Baby bells for antitrust violations again. Still, it didn’t stop them as even now they strive to rebuild. From 1995-2005 four of the seven baby bells were acquired by SBC and in 2006 they rebranded themselves as At&T. While Verizon along with Comcast purchased $3.6 billion worth of wireless spectrum, plus the recent reports of the merger of Comcast and Time Warner… 6 of the 7 Baby Bells will reunite and become part of an even greater corporate telecommunication monopoly, Comast-Time Warner!Recognizing now, this monopoly controls much more than just our telephones… Our TV shows, News, Sports, Movies and even the ads that play in between are in their hands. You can see it will all be strongly influenced by the philosophies, ideas and financial motivations of one single source. Please notice, they are doing it with the same false claim that it is for the greater good of all of us, they say it will cost less if it’s all bundled closely together. Is it worth it? Is the cost of bundling worth the loss of the truth, options and creative competition?A more extensive list of dangers associated with a monopoly of information is available, but a few highlights are: sensationalism of products and activities that financially benefit the monopoly, and censorship of truthful information that could cause harm to it’s success and survival. When you consider the wide spectrum of control of information had by these giant monopolies, it’s not hard to start looking at what we watch through an improved lens of speculation.

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