Read The Race for Free Online

'opportunity'—"
    "Then you surely agree that all Americans should have the 'opportunity'—not to mention the 'freedom'—to read, watch, or listen to news provided by someone else."
    "Senator," Rohr countered with a soft laugh, "they
can
."
    "Less so all the time, Mr. Rohr. In St. Louis, for example, you own the daily newspaper, two of the major TV stations, the principal talk-radio outlet, and the local magazine. The citizens of St. Louis didn't wake up and decide one day to give you a semimonopoly;
we
in the government let you gobble up their media." Corey leaned forward. "In the brave new world that you've created, a single corporation—Rohr Vision—dominates the local media in
most
American cities. It seems pretty clear that you'll
never
say 'enough.' So when do you think
we
should?"
    "That's a rhetorical question," Rohr countered with an ironic smile. "To which, I somehow sense, you're about to provide an answer."
    "I probably should," Corey said coolly. "After all, I'm a United States senator, and you're merely rich. So it's important that we both remember the difference.
    "'Enough,' Mr. Rohr, is what you already own. 'Too much' is what you're here for now: control of America's largest Internet provider."
    Next to him, Corey detected Halprin shifting impatiently in his chair. But Corey had ten minutes left, and he fully intended to use them. Knowing this, the reporters in the room were alert, looking from Corey to Rohr. "I humbly disagree," Rohr answered. "All that will happen is that Netcast will provide twenty-five million Americans with better and cheaper service."
    "Not
all,
I think." Corey's voice became sharper. "Here's what else you can do. You can make it easy for customers to get to Web sites that reflect your political point of view. You can make it harder to get to Web sites that don't. You can charge prohibitive fees to Web sites that displease you. You can even block users from going to them at all. You can hamper Internet fund-raising for candidates whom you oppose. And, on the theory that, in your America, Rohr Vision needs still more profits, you can steer customers to movies, games, and music owned by other arms of Rohr Vision. You can even steer them to a Web site you acquired last month: Hook-Up, which openly facilitates solicitations for underage sex—which, I have to admit, is pretty broad-minded for a man who just published a Christian book called
Bringing Your Kids to God
."
    Sitting up straighter, Rohr responded in a low, chill tone. "Forgive me, Senator, if I find that litany insulting."
    "How exactly? Because you thought I was suggesting that you personally troll Hook-Up? It's hard to know what else you could mean, given that you've lowered the standards of journalism in every media outlet you've acquired. Not to mention the standards of this body—"
    "Senator Grace," Halprin interrupted.
    Still watching Rohr, Corey said, "Indulge me for a moment, Senator. Mr. Rohr claims to find my 'litany' insulting. And yet he's spent millions in lobbying fees trying to persuade the Senate to reject a bill that would ban his company from abusing Netcast in precisely the ways I just enumerated." Leaning forward, Corey asked Rohr, "That much is true, isn't it?"
    Rohr glanced toward one of his lawyers, a slight, bespectacled man who, to Corey, had the face of a mortician. As Corey and the onlookers waited, the lawyer whispered in Rohr's ear. "Senator," Rohr said testily, "I fail to see how vigorous advocacy of a legitimate point of view lowers the standards of the Senate. And I remind you that other independent voices—including Consumers for Internet Choice—are prepared to testify regarding the benefits to customers should we acquire Netcast."
    Suppressing a smile, Corey asked, "So you've never once attempted to mislead us."
    Glancing toward his lawyer, Rohr looked, in Corey's estimate, less like a seal than a ferret. "Absolutely not."
    "So tell me, Mr. Rohr, who funds that 'independent voice' that is