US Justice Department Calls AT&T And Time Warner Merger A ‘Frontal Attack’ On The Law

The proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner is currently the biggest anti-trust affair in the U.S., with many government agencies expressing contempt at the thought. The Justice Department is making its thoughts with regards to the subject known, calling it a “frontal attack” on the law and a lawyer saying that the merger was a means to “weaponize” content to target vulnerable consumers.

The biggest issue that the government lawyers have with regards to this particular proposed merger is how it could disproportionately give AT&T the ability to charge higher prices for services that consumers are enjoying right now. Television programs could become more expensive, especially those with paid live fees, The Washington Post reports. At least, this is the argument that Craig Conrath, a government lawyer is making.

“Time Warner would be a weapon for AT&T because AT&T's competitors need that programming,” Conrath said.

Conrath made the pronouncement recently in a courtroom, where the validity of the merger was being decided, and right to the faces of the chief executives of both companies. Richard Leon is the federal judge overseeing the case.

The biggest worry that Conrath has is with regards to the possibility of a monopoly, with AT&T obtaining stations such as HBO and CNN, both of which attract a considerable amount of views. The fear is that the communications giant would then leverage its position after the merger to increase prices and use its unfair advantage to keep its competitors down.

Naturally, the lead attorney of AT&T tried to dismiss these claims, calling them preposterous. Daniel Petrocelli argued that his client was simply trying to compete with tech rivals like Google and Amazon. Conrath wasn’t buying it, the Los Angeles Times notes.

He argues that AT&T was simply trying to survive any way it could and right now, it’s trying to do so by retaining the customers that other, more innovative services are trying to lure away.

"They're coming right for AT&T's cash cow, but these innovators need Time Warner's content," Conrath argued. "Buying Time Warner would give AT&T a weapon to slow down innovation and protect AT&T's cash cow."