THE POWER & HISTORY OF TIME WARNER, THE GOVERNMENT’S CONNECTION TO AT&T

Time Warner was formed in 1990 through the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications.

The current company consists largely of the assets of the former Warner Communications, as well as HBO (a Time Inc. subsidiary prior to the Warner merger) and the assets of Turner Broadcasting (acquired in 1996).

Time Warner currently has major operations in film and television, with a limited amount of publishing operations. Among its assets are New Line Cinema, Home Box Office, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, Warner Bros., CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Animation, Castle Rock Entertainment, Cartoon Network Studios, Esporte Interativo, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and as of August 2016, it owns 10% of Hulu. [SIDE NOTE: HILLARY CAMPAIGN ADS ARE ALL OVER HULU]

On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced its intent to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion.

In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged a class action lawsuit, Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, a retired former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation. The Department of Justice has stated it will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege.

In July 2006, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – in which the suit was filed – rejected a federal government motion to dismiss the case. The motion to dismiss, which invoked the State Secrets Privilege, had argued that any court review of the alleged partnership between the federal government and AT&T would harm national security. The case was immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. It was dismissed on June 3, 2009, citing retroactive legislation in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

I’m sure there is more dots to be connected. How else is the government involved with AT&T?

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