Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Davies who wrote (26412)	11/11/2000 3:20:51 PM
From: E. Davies	Respond to of 29970

Just for fun, an ON topic post: dailynews.yahoo.com Court Overturns AT&T Cable Decision WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge has invalidated a Florida county ordinance requiring AT&T to open its network of high-speed cable lines to competing Internet providers. The decision comes amidst a national debate on the issue, fueled further by the proposed merger of America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. In the ruling, the judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida determined that a Broward County ordinance requiring cable giant AT&T to allow rival Internet access to their systems violated the First Amendment. ``Compelled access like that ordered by the Broward County ordinance both penalizes expression and forces the cable operators to alter their content to conform to an agenda they do not set,'' the decision said. At issue is whether cable companies must carry unaffiliated Internet providers on their high-speed lines, so consumers can choose from a range of services. AT&T has said it wants to give its customer a variety of Internet providers, but does not believe this should be mandated by government officials. ``As we've argued all along, that choice will best be offered as a result of market forces, not local ordinances or government regulation,'' said Mark Rosenblum AT&T vice president for law. The company has held back from offering its high-speed Internet in unincorporated Broward County, the area covered by the ordinance. On Friday, it said it will begin offering its high-speed cable service - which passes by 10,000 homes in that region - by Monday. The Broward County Commission voted last year to require MediaOne, which was later acquired by AT&T, to lease its cable TV lines to rival providers of high-speed Internet access. The county had argued that cable operators control a valuable conduit, which can be separated from the content it provides. But the court disagreed. ``In short, content and technology are intertwined in ways which make analytical separability difficult and perhaps unwise,'' the court said. The court also said that cable companies do not have a monopoly in the market for Internet access since most Americans still get to the Web via slower dial-up phone connections. At the national level, the Federal Trade Commission is seeking to require Time Warner to open its cable lines to rival Internet providers as a condition of completing its merger with AOL. The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) also has launched a proceeding to look into the question.