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Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Quote:

Federal Communications commissioner Meredith Baker announced Wednesday that she will resign from the FCC on June 3 and join Comcast-NBC Universal as its senior vice president of governmental affairs.

Baker, a Republican, joined the FCC in 2009 after working at the National Telecomunications and Information Administration under President George W. Bush.

While at the NTIA, Baker oversaw a $1.5 billion coupon program to help consumers make the transition to digital-only television.

In a statement announcing her resignation, Baker said she is most proud of the work she has done with FCC on spectrum reform. “It is the most important step we can take to ensure our nation’s competitiveness in an increasingly interconnected world,” she said.

The commissioner’s announcement comes four months after voting to approve a merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.

In a statement, the company’s Washington office president, Kyle McSlarrow, said, “Meredith’s executive branch and business experience along with her exceptional relationships in Washington bring Comcast and NBCUniversal the perfect combination of skills.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/fcc-commissioner-meredith-baker-to-join-comcast-nbc/2011/05/11/AFYfl1rG_blog.html

She should go to jail. This is a scam and a tremendous abuse of government power. Non-Comcast markets have people that wonder why people say Comcast is the devil? Well here ya go. This is why.

Posted: May 12 2011 09:42 am

Wow.

I have Comcast, and I hate them.

But, it's the only thing available around.

Posted: May 12 2011 10:01 am

Jumping the gun a bit?

Unless you have proof she was offered the job prior to the merger, then she didn't do anything wrong. How do you know she didn't build a professional relationship with Comcast while working with them over the merger, and that they liked her enough to offer her the job?

It's only a conspiracy if you can prove it.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Knyte wrote:

Jumping the gun a bit?

Unless you have proof she was offered the job prior to the merger, then she didn't do anything wrong. How do you know she didn't build a professional relationship with Comcast while working with them over the merger, and that they liked her enough to offer her the job?

It's only a conspiracy if you can prove it.

Whatever, I have yet to meet a single person who says "I like Comcast and what they stand for." They are a monopoly and they bully their consumer. This woman increased Comcast's reach and then joined them. She may not have been offered something, but she sure as fuck made it better for them and then joined them.

Any public official who would choose to work for them should never have been in their political position to begin with. If I had the money, I would create a competing ISP with the sole goal of undercutting Comcast. I would be willing to run it at non-profit rates if it meant Comcast's grip on our culture was released.

Posted: May 12 2011 10:44 am

im w/GP. somethings rotten in the state of comcast, and i dont like it

Posted: May 12 2011 11:06 am

Yeah Comcast is a bunch of thugs and miscreants! And their pricing is ridiculous.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Quote:

US Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to deliver a report on cable-TV rate changes in Boston and other Bay State communities.

Kerry's request to the FCC comes after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino filed a petition asking the FCC to give the city control over the price of basic cable service in Boston. According to Menino's petition, the majority of the city's cable TV subscribers are "unprotected from Comcast’s market power.’’

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/05/kerry_asks_fcc.html

Posted: May 12 2011 11:41 am

How is this corruption? We get it, you hate Comcast. She didn't do anything wrong or illegal. Voting to approve the merger doesn't mean it was her idea or she was promised anything, it just means that there was no legitimate reason to deny the merger.

Honestly, this is the same thing as if the commissioner of baseball approved a trade and then stepped down as commissioner to become a manager for one of the teams that traded players. You are severely overreacting.

Posted: May 12 2011 12:56 pm

This seems to me to be a case of the appearance of impropriety rather than actual impropriety. Meridith Baker, in her role as FCC Commissioner, is naturally going to make decisions impacting all cable providers. To say that taking a job in the private sector after her public service is improper would preclude her from ever working again in her field. Imposing or assuming such impropriety would basically preclude a person from leaving the public sector and getting work in that person's field of expertise. I think it's a good idea to allow for the appearance of impropriety otherwise it would be very difficult to attract top level talent to public jobs if a person would later be precluded from taking a private sector job after leaving public service.
That said, Comcast sucks.

Posted: May 12 2011 01:32 pm

It does sound like a conflict of interests to me, but I'm sure there's a wealth of legal jargon behind it.

Joined: May 22 2009 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 353

I don't know a whole lot about Comcast, why are they so hated and why are they a monopoly? Are they a monopoly because the government makes it impossible for others to compete with them or are they being called a monopoly because no one is successful when they try to compete with them?

And why would Comcast need permission from the FCC to merge with NBC Universal, are they publicly funded?

Posted: May 12 2011 05:10 pm

I do wish that Comcast's rates were lower, but other than that, I have no complaints against them.

My service works 99.9% of the time. I get great internet speeds. I love On Demand. And, I have a few friends that work for Comcast as installers and love their jobs and the benefits they get.

Posted: May 12 2011 05:24 pm

I've had some issues with Comcast in the past myself, and I do think they could really use some competition because as it stands they really have none in most markets they are in. The one time I lived a place where we had a choice Comcast bought out the other company a few months later and prices went up nearly immediately. I have had a lot of problems with service from them in the past too. I'm really happy that the school I'm at has their own internet and cable services separate from Comcast, because my speeds are almost 4 times faster than my Mom's or my Dad's and I don't have to put up with Comcast giving me crap when I call them anymore. My mom actually switched to satellite so she didn't have to put up with Comcast not ever solving the problem with the way her cable was run from the box to the house that caused it to go out 3-4 times a year.

Posted: May 12 2011 05:48 pm

This shit, literally, happens all the time. Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court judge? Lawyer for Monsanto Corp. Ever wonder why they can't get top-shelf legislation passed on GMOs? Politics, like business, is all about who you know. If you're willing to give a quick dole-handy to an old employer, or potential future one, you're in like Flint. And the drum pounds ceaselessly to the tune of "Nothing Ever Changes"

Posted: May 12 2011 07:43 pm

My apartment states that you can only receive Cable TV and you can't have Satellite Dishes since Dishes are "eye sores".

The only person providing in my area is Comcast. Weak.

Posted: May 12 2011 09:46 pm

That sucks. Oh, and I forgot to add, fuck Comcast as well. I want nothing to do with them.

Joined: May 22 2009 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 353

I had to look more into this to be able to make a halfway informed opinion, and I wonder, why isn't anyone here criticizing the FCC and the rest of the alphabet soups?

Doesn't the government grant certain ISPs, and cable providers the right to be the only one servicing a certain geographical area? I know that is the case where I'm from. A mile down the road people have Time Warner Cable, which I would also like to have, but unfortunately I am stuck with Insight Cable, not because Time Warner doesn't want to serve me, but because of my location, they are not allowed to.

And why does the FCC have the right to determine whether or not a company can buyout another company?

Posted: May 13 2011 03:42 am

Good thing I have Xfinitiy, because the word on the street is Comcast sucks.

Posted: May 13 2011 05:50 am

Blackout wrote:

Good thing I have Xfinity, because the word on the street is Comcast sucks.

If you use them for internet, you've got either a 150 or 250 GB monthly bandwidth limit.

Posted: May 13 2011 05:57 am

If this was a merger between two telecommunications giants, like say Comcast and Verizon, I'd be crying that there was some sort of impropriety on this lady's part. But she voted to approve a merger between a failing film/television media company and a powerful telecommunications company. There was nothing wrong with the merger. NBC Universal has been in dire straits for the last couple years, and they wouldn't have been around much longer without a merger/sale. This merger was a good thing.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

If this was a merger between two telecommunications giants, like say Comcast and Verizon, I'd be crying that there was some sort of impropriety on this lady's part. But she voted to approve a merger between a failing film/television media company and a powerful telecommunications company. There was nothing wrong with the merger. NBC Universal has been in dire straits for the last couple years, and they wouldn't have been around much longer without a merger/sale. This merger was a good thing.

For who?

Sometimes a company of NBC's size needs to fail in order to pick itself back up again and do things correctly. Being merged into a behemoth like Comcast only adds to Comcast's ability to run the show with no interference. No consumer costs will be reduced because of this merge. In fact, we will all probably end up paying more.

Posted: May 13 2011 08:01 am

It's good, because I still get to watch all my favorite NBC programming.

Posted: May 13 2011 08:46 am

I'm glad I have both Cablevision and Verizon servicing my area. Healthy competition.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Syd Lexia wrote:

It's good, because I still get to watch all my favorite NBC programming.

I would miss Burn Notice on USA.

I would also miss Chuck, Community and The Office... but honestly, it isn't like those shows wouldn't be picked up by other networks if NBC had imploded.

Posted: May 14 2011 01:51 am

lordsathien wrote:

Blackout wrote:

Good thing I have Xfinity, because the word on the street is Comcast sucks.

If you use them for internet, you've got either a 150 or 250 GB monthly bandwidth limit.

I know I was kidding, Xfinity is a rebrand of Comcast Triple Play. I was going to add This Is A Joke

All in all, you're just another brick in the wall.

but I guess I forgot.