For a few months, there has been an enormous conversation in the telecom and tech communities about a potential merger between cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable. While having less competition may seem good to some, the potential merger could give the combined company a monopoly on the industry and hurt customers. Despite this problem, many government officials have been sending letters to congress in support of the action. However, recent reports show that the letters may not be as legitimate as some want them to be.
Multiple pro-merger letters from various political officials were penned by Comcast employees, the Verge reported on Monday. These letters were all part of an "outpouring of thoughtful and positive comments in support of the proposed mega-merger."
Many of these officials had received campaign funds from Comcast before. Some critics have accused Comcast of donating these funds in order to buy public support. Most of these forged letters were written by high-end employees of Comcast, including executive presidents, government affairs specialists and copywriters. Most letters were formatted in a similar way to the intended author's style, which made it difficult to tell the difference between the Comcast-penned version and an officially-penned letter.
Sadly, this isn't a new practice. Some government officials, including former FCC chairman Michael Copps, said that they could tell the difference between the real and fake letters.
When asked for comment, Comcast said that while it will happily provide comment about the upcoming merger, it does not have the final say in the letter. However, no comment was released.
Comcast's goal is to prove that the merger will serve the public good and help customers. The letters are part of that attempt, though it isn't clear if that is enough evidence to convince Congress and the FCC to approve the merger.
The Comcast-Time Warner merger is currently in the final stages of federal review, and the results should be released in the near future.
