but keep reading.
'A study by the Federal Trade Commission found that concerns about every vertical merger examined by the commission from 2006 to 2012 were resolved through “conduct remedies” rather than divestitures, and that all these remedies had been successful at protecting competition.
That hasn’t mollified a new generation of antitrust activists. Tim Wu, an antitrust professor at Columbia University and one of the leading proponents of a more intense scrutiny of media mergers, told me that the deal should be blocked on grounds that a combined megacompany could exert “broad anticompetitive effects.”
Say, for example, that a combined AT&T-Time Warner aggressively raised prices for popular offerings like HBO and CNN. Rival distributors, such as cable companies, would have to pay much higher prices, passing the increases on to consumers, or drop the channels, forcing consumers who want them to turn to other distributors, such as AT&T, reinforcing its already commanding position in satellite, wireless and broadband distribution.
This threat of higher prices and restricted consumer choice appears to be the theory the Justice Department is pursuing, according to people briefed on the negotiations.'
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