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Press
Release Contact:
Thursday, October 19,
2000
Gene Kimmelman,
202/462-6262
Consumers
Union's Washington, DC Office
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- AT&T Chairman of the
Board C. Michael Armstrong has asked President Clinton to support the
company's effort to change the Federal Communications Commission's
attribution rules, which are used to calculate the cap on broadcast
and cable ownership.
Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers
Union's Washington D.C. office, made the following statement today in
response to a letter from Armstrong to Clinton dated October 17:
"This is a blatant attempt by AT&T to
circumvent the conditions it agreed to when the FCC cleared the
AT&T-MediaOne merger.
"AT&T's push for a 'change in attribution
rules' is simply an effort to eliminate meaningful limits on cable
and broadcast ownership, limits that were designed to prevent
monopolization of the airwaves and the cable television market.
"We call on President Clinton and Congress to
stand firm in preventing AT&T from expanding its monopoly power
in the cable TV market."
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is an independent nonprofit testing, educational and information organization serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public and protect consumers.
