https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm88zw/att-time-warner-merger-net-neutrality > A federal judge approved AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, a move that’s likely to accelerate an already problematic wave of U.S. media mergers and consolidation to the likely detriment of smaller competitors and American consumers. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon declared that the government failed to meet the burden of proving that the deal would severely harm the company’s competitors. It was the DOJ’s first antitrust loss since 2004, and a massive victory for Dallas-based AT&T. > The DOJ sued to thwart AT&T’s latest merger last November, claiming it was solely concerned with protecting American consumers. But the broadly anti-consumer positions of the Trump administration on other fronts (like net neutrality) left many wondering if Trump’s disdain for CNN or his friendship with Rupert Murdoch may have been motivating factors.