FOF #1395 – Don’t Believe The Fairy Tale

One ringy-dingy to rule them all. Why would anyone want AT&T to become telecom-titan once again? What does Lily Tomlin have to say about all this?

The battle to protect Network Neutrality is raging. Millions of people are up in arms over the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, because it will leave just two large companies in control of the Internet and mobile broadband. Tech experts insist the merger will create higher prices, poorer service, the loss of thousands of jobs and most importantly, threaten free speech and openness on the wireless web.

AT&T has been fighting hard to convince the FCC to allow the merger and they’ve aggressively courted dozens of civil rights groups across the country to endorse it by promising increased functionality and speed, despite their dismal past record. Today the U.S. ranks 15th in the world in Internet speed and access, behind most European countries, South Korea and Japan.

One unusual LGBT rights group endorsing the merger is the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD. Their support of the merger is seen by many as a misguided attempt to curry favor with board members and one of their largest sponsors, AT&T.

Join us as we talk to-

Timothy Karr the Campaign Director for Save The Internet a non-profit coalition of over 2 million people seeking to protect Internet freedom.

Daniel Villareal, Queerty’s new day editor covering the story.

And Jarrett Barios, the President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation about the groups’ controversial support of the merger.

Listen as we try to convince Jarret Barios and GLAAD to reconsider withdrawing their support.

Plus, will the negative backlash over GLAAD’s support of their corporate overlords overshadow its important work with traditional media creators?

And what your Internet experience will look like in the future if we lose Net Neutrality.

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Eric Himan – Everywhere All at Once: iTunes | Amazon

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 4:32 am and is filed under Interviews, News & Rumors, Podcast, Politicians/Activists, Politics & Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.