[Buckeye McFrog]

I think this deal is D-E-A-D. Obama’s 180 on net neutrality indicates they are planning to ride a wave of consumerist populism in ‘16. This merger would not compute.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

If the NSA wants the deal to go through, it goes through.

[Alex Murphy]

AT&T violated privacy laws by voluntarily handing over to the spy agency data about Americans' phone and Internet communications in the years after Sept. 11, 2001, critics told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a letter late on Wednesday. In light of that cooperation, they urged the FCC to think carefully about approving the merger with DirecTV. If it does, they want the agency to require AT&T to enact tough new privacy rules.

The complaint was filed by the Minority Cellular Partners Coalition, a group of more than 90 former AT&T business partners who have teamed up to block the merger. In December, the coalition hired K Street powerhouse Podesta Group to lobby on its behalf.

PFL