A new Congressional antitrust taskforce within the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next week on the proposed merger of XM and Sirius.
Mel Karmazin, will testify at the hearing on February 28th.
"Digital music is at the cutting edge of technology and innovation," House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said. "We are holding this hearing to allow members to probe whether this merger will enhance or diminish competition in the digital music distribution industry."
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican member of the committee, said the hearing will focus on the proposed merger's impact on consumers.
"This hearing will help determine whether customers will get higher or lower prices and more or fewer programming options with the proposed merger. In particular, the Committee will examine whether satellite radio competes against terrestrial radio, the Internet, or other emerging technologies," Smith said.
Rep Lamar Smith, interestingly enough, was the sponsor of last year's Copyright Modernization Act - which would have prevented XM or Sirius from offering radios that allow consumers to record satellite radio content for later listening.
Welcome to the political circus. Don't be surprised if things sloooow down from here on.
[Reuters]
Its all just a dog and pony show at this point...this thing has already been approved(wink,wink) and now we get the "show" Mel and his boys have done their homework on this...look for some concessions on the part of XM/SIRI then its a slam dunk..
Maybe that's a sign that Smith understands the difference between recording digital music and which services/devices/etc. compete against each other. The fact that he can separate the two is one small, positive step towards the merger (if that's what is best).
Welcome to the political circus. Don't be surprised if things sloooow
Well, what did they expect. That is only one of the many reasons this merger is insane and a waste of resources that would better be spent competing, with each other and the terrestrial compeition.
-- Donald
I think so to. I feel this whole thing was orchestrated a long time ago between XM and Sirius. Maybe they didnt expect the FCC and all the other cowboys to interfere as much as they are, but this could be a very powerful influence that could bring this country alot of money in the long run. Especially when they go global...
Let the lining of politicians pockets with cash begin.
Take money in a freezer Mel, I understand that's very popular in the House especially.