Remember when AT&T tried to get T-Mobile’s spectrum in order to give Verizon some more competition? And how Sprint opposed that because it would heighten competition? Well now it’s turnabout. SoftBank is attempting to buy a majority of Sprint, which will in turn take a majority of Clearwire. That will give Softbank control of a large amount of US Spectrum. So AT&T wants regulatory review. Heh.
To be clear, I think it’s a good thing that firms are doing what they can to get spectrum and compete, even if I laugh at the revenge attempt going on here. In fact I think it would have been very interesting to see Softbank/Sprint/Clearwire vs AT&T/T-Mobile vs Verizon. But we’ll see what shakes out in the end.
Even as Ecuador shields Julian Assange from the UK, so does the UK shield Gary McKinnon from the US. Oh sure, they say they’ll try him. Wink wink. Of course he’ll get prosecuted when the Home Secretary has already insisted it would be unfair to prosecute him. Sigh. If only we had a President who hadn’t spent the last four years expressing his bigoted hate for the UK.
Gotta love it. After anti-American judges rigged the courts in New Zealand to let Kim Dotcom live (very) large on his ill-gotten profits, he’s already plotting how to get back into the copyright infringement game. If only we had a President who hadn’t spent the last four years ignoring our former allies.
At least Sweden cares about their own domestic infringers, as the Pirate Bay is forced to take desperate steps trying to avoid the long arm of the law.
On another topic, you want to know how to get Americans educated better? Stop subsidizing degrees in Racist Studies, Critical Literature, and any other form of librul social science mumbo jumbo. No more Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, or any other subsidies unless you’re getting a real degree. In fact maybe only Grants if you’re going to study science or engineering. If you want to get, you have to give back.
And in a final note, it turns out that Senator Jerry Moran is watching the FTC, having written Chairman Jon Liebowitz a letter about recent talk of overreach, saying “I request that you and your fellow Commissioners remain conscious of the Commission’s statutory authority and fully consider the potential impact of any actions the Commission may take.” Sounds like common sense, but that’s been scarce under Obama regulators.
Hopefully Moran can join the coalition of us that must pressure Mitt Romney to appoint strong, reformist regulators across the board: EPA, FDA, NLRB, FTC, FCC, SEC, everywhere.