BUSINESS TERRORISM is when you can Chapter 11 a company, screw the stockholders, buy the infrastructure (network) assets for pennies on the dollar and then use those assets in a new company you have created to provide the same service. That is exactly what AT&T has done, but I think they have underestimated what can be swept under the rug. This fiasco will see the light of day.
What gets me is AT&T has 70% control of the Board of Directors of Excite@Home cable Internet and they have purposely run this company into the ground so they can start a fresh without the incestuous cable companies.
If this is so, then the judge did us a favor by ruling that they could shut down. All parties know that a shutdown would instantly alienate 4 million or so customers unless something else could be brought in as an instant replacement. AT&T has a replacement, but I don't know if it is physically possible to bring it online quickly. But if they maneuvered to kill @home and brought in worldnet, word would be all over the media and that would hurt them.
A shutdown threat will bring about a more fair offer by AT&T. IMHO, of course. ATT hoped that they could get some infrastructure for pennies on the dollar, but now they'll have to negotiate more fairly. On the other hand, I hope that this doesn't give @home too much leverage. If it costs too much to buy the system, nobody will buy it.
At first, I didn't think that ATT was so skillful that they could pull off such a stunt. I hadn't realized that they had such a large stake in @home. Perhaps I was mistaken.