Friday, April 17, 2009

Time Warner Hasn't Backed Down

Not really.

A TW spokesman, quoted on WXXI news this morning, said resistance to its plan to charge based on use arose from the public's "misunderstanding" of the proposal.

Nonsense.   Hostility to the plan arose not because people "misunderstood" it, but because they understood it all too well.

Nobody knows this better than Time-Warner itself, whose statements in backing off from its proposal -- for now -- suggest they think they just have to spin the message more effectively the next time around.

How?   Here's one plausible scenario:


TW lets the dust settle for a year or thereabout, then substantially jacks up monthly rates for everyone, claiming increased internet use.  This creates a public uproar, which is precisely what they intend.   Now they can ride to the rescue by changing their proposal to one in which heavier users pay for use.

It might be this, or it might be something else.   What's certain is that they'll try again.   That and, as in the line about people "misunderstanding" the withdrawn plan, Time-Warner remains as thoroughly dishonest in its public statements as it has been from the start of this episode.

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