Ars Technica

AT&T is already planning more acquisitions, days after buying Time Warner

AT&T will soon offer a new streaming video service thanks to its acquisition of Time Warner, and it will be buying more companies in order to beef up its advertising platform, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said. The streaming service will be free for AT&T mobile customers who subscribe to unlimited data plans and $15 a month for everyone else. AT&T will announce more acquisitions soon to improve its advertising system.

New York threatens to revoke Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable

The New York State Public Service Commission ordered Charter Communications to pay a $2 million fine and complete network construction that was required as a condition of Charter's purchase of Time Warner Cable. If Charter doesn't meet its merger-related obligations, the company will "face the risk of having the merger revoked," the commission said. The commission said that state law gives it the authority to rescind merger approvals and threatened to start a proceeding to rescind or change the merger approval order if Charter refuses to comply.

Comcast disabled throttling system, proving data cap is just a money grab

Comcast has disabled a throttling system that it deployed in 2008 in order to slow down heavy Internet users. Comcast's network is now strong enough that a congestion management system isn't needed, the company says. The system has been "essentially inactive for more than a year," and is now disabled entirely.

Comcast, AT&T, Verizon say they have no paid prioritization plans

The repeal of federal network neutrality rules became official June 11, giving broadband providers the right to block or throttle Internet traffic or to prioritize traffic in exchange for payment. But at least for now, some major ISPs are saying they won't do any of those things. The Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T websites all say they aren't doing any blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization.

New law forces Google to suspend political ads in Washington state

A strict new real-time disclosure law has forced Google to suspend political advertising in the Washington state. "Ads related to ballot measures and state and local elections in the state of Washington, U.S.A., will not be accepted," a new Google policy says. The new rules were enacted by Washington state's Public Disclosure Commission to implement provisions of new campaign finance legislation that was passed in March. The rules require ad brokers like Google to provide information to the public about who is funding political ads and how those ads are being targeted.

In seconds, we faked our way into a political campaign, got unsecured voter data

On June 5, polls will be open to voters in eight states, including California, which holds gubernatorial primaries among many other national, state, and local elections. Under California law, voter data (name, address, phone, age, party affiliation) is supposed to be "confidential and shall not appear on any computer terminal... or other medium routinely available to the public." However, there's a big exception to that law: this data can be made available to political campaigns, including companies that provide digital analysis services to campaigns.

Comcast drops bid for “gigabit” tax cut that was created for Google Fiber

Comcast has agreed to pay $155 million in back taxes to Oregon in order to settle a nine-year property tax dispute. Comcast will also drop its attempt to secure a tax break that OR created as part of a failed attempt to bring Google Fiber to the state. Gov Kate Brown (D-OR) announced the settlement with Comcast, noting that the legal battle "likely would have continued for many more years because several distinct and complex legal questions were in dispute." OR accepted the $155 million payment despite previously arguing that Comcast owed $200 million.

Trump administration could block T-Mobile/Sprint merger, AT&T CEO says

Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, predicted that T-Mobile USA and Sprint will have a difficult time getting their merger approved because the deal would eliminate a major competitor. "I think [T-Mobile and Sprint] have a tough hill to climb, I mean, it's a classic horizontal merger where you're taking a competitor out of the marketplace," Stephenson said.

AT&T wants to settle with FTC to avoid unlimited data throttling lawsuit

AT&T has given up its years-long quest to cripple the Federal Trade Commission's authority to regulate broadband providers. Just weeks ago, AT&T said it intended to appeal its loss in the case to the US Supreme Court before a deadline of May 29. But May 31, AT&T informed court officials that it has decided not to file a petition to the Supreme Court and did not ask for a deadline extension.

Sprint says merger with “fiercest rival” will “create robust competition”

Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure tweeted that Sprint will build "one of the best networks in the world" even if it isn't allowed to merge with rival T-Mobile USA. "Merger or no merger, Sprint presses ahead with KC network buildout. Kansas City will have one of the best networks in the world," Claure tweeted. So why does Sprint need to merge with T-Mobile?

FCC Commissioner O'Rielly asks Amazon and eBay to boost crackdown on pirate TV boxes

Pirate TV boxes that falsely display the Federal Communications Commission logo should be removed from Amazon and eBay, said FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly.  Commissioner O'Rielly wrote a letter to the Amazon and eBay CEOs asking them to crack down on set-top boxes that violate FCC rules. Amazon quickly responded, saying that it already takes steps to prevent sale of these products but that it is willing to step up enforcement if any such devices are still for sale on Amazon.

Hackers infect 500,000 consumer routers all over the world with malware

Hackers possibly working for an advanced nation have infected more than 500,000 home and small-office routers around the world with malware that can be used to collect communications, launch attacks on others, and permanently destroy the devices with a single command, researchers at Cisco warned. VPNFilter—as the modular, multi-stage malware has been dubbed—works on consumer-grade routers made by Linksys, MikroTik, Netgear, TP-Link, and on network-attached storage devices from QNAP, Cisco researchers said. It’s one of the few pieces of Internet-of-things malware that can survive a reboot.

T-Mobile should stop claiming it has “Best Unlimited Network,” ad group says

T-Mobile USA should stop claiming that it has "America's Best Unlimited Network," the advertising industry's self-regulator said. AT&T challenged T-Mobile's ads to the National Advertising Division (NAD), which ruled that T-Mobile hasn't substantiated its claim that it has the best wireless network. T-Mobile defended itself by arguing that speed outweighs all other factors—apparently including overall coverage and reliability.

Chairman Pai’s policies harm Internet users, Commissioner Clyburn says on exit from FCC

As Mignon Clyburn left the Federal Communications Commission, the longtime telecommunications regulator worried that the FCC is abandoning its "prime directive" of protecting consumers. The FCC's top priority, as set out by the Communications Act, is to make sure all Americans have "affordable, efficient, and effective" access to communications services, Commissioner Clyburn said. But too often, the FCC's Republican majority led by Chairman Ajit Pai is prioritizing the desires of corporations over consumers, Commissioner Clyburn said.