Wired
Promises Mean Little for Consumers in T-Mobile/Sprint Deal
[Commentary] The proposition here is simple: This T-Mobile/Sprint deal will shrink the market for nationwide mobile wireless service from four players to three, giving consumers fewer choices and increasing the likelihood that prices will be higher and service offerings will be less consumer-friendly. Decreased competition in a market that is already consolidated? This deal should be an easy one for the government to reject. Companies seeking to merge typically promise the sun, moon, and the stars to regulators in order to obtain approval, and T-Mobile and Sprint are no different.
What Did AT&T Want from Michael Cohen?
Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, received four payments totaling $200,000 from AT&T between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson entered Trump Tower eight minutes apart on Jan. 12, 2017, according to a pool report at the time. AT&T had two reasons to be keenly interested in Trump's thinking during that period. It, along with other wireless and cable companies, was pushing the Federal Communications Commission to end net neutrality, the rules that bar telecom companies from blocking or favoring certain content.
The Sprint and T-Mobile Merger Will Test the Department of Justice's Mettle
[Commentary] Is our government bound by the rule of law or the rule of President Trump? The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division must consider this question. Here's why. There is a two-part, simple legal standard for deciding whether the proposed combination of Sprint and T-Mobile should be allowed. Would it harm competition in such a way that consumers would suffer?
Your Favorite Websites are Rallying in a Last-Ditch Effort to Save Net Neutrality
You might be seeing a lot of red on the internet May 9. Many sites, including Etsy, Reddit, and OKCupid will adorn their pages with “red alerts” asking readers to tell their representatives to save net neutrality.
Social media sites that focus on entertainment and discovery make us happier (Wired)
Submitted by benton on Tue, 05/08/2018 - 11:54Your Smartphone Could Decide Whether You'll Get a Loan
Every time you visit a website, you leave behind a trail of information, including seemingly innocuous data, like whether you use an Android or Apple device. And while that might feel like a mere personal preference, it turns out that lenders can use that type of passive signal to help predict whether you'll default. In fact, new research suggests that those signals can predict consumer behavior as accurately as traditional credit scores. That could disrupt the traditional credit bureau industry that's dominated since the 1980s—and have serious ramifications for privacy.