California began a series of public hearings on the SBC/AT&T merger in Oakland, Calif., last week. While the purpose is to gather public input, in reality, special interests dominate, putting the real public interest at risk.
An hour before the hearing took place, the meeting room was plastered with signs that could have been dusted off from the 1960s. “We want justice now,” and “Consumers first, big business last,” were two of the slogans. “SBC-AT&T you MUST do and give more,” read another.
Numerous speakers took the podium to urge the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to force SBC/AT&T to be more philanthropic. Basically, the message from members of groups such as the Greenlining Institute and the Community Technology Foundation of California was “give us money or we will do everything we can to ruin your business plans.”
To read more, click here.