Tim_Wu

First, I think New York State should be much more active in controlling the merger of giant media cos. For a starter, New York should clearly block the Comcast - Time Warner merger, pronto. In fact I would say the State has a duty to block it.

By our calculations, TWC-Comcast will cost New Yorkers as much as $1.6 billion per year in higher rates. It also will damage New York industries, like tech and content creation. All for what? So Comcast can make more money. That's not what I'd call "in the public interest."

Second, I think, ideally, municipalities ought take the lead in offering alternatives to the big guys. Internet access is a utility and we've been far too lax about just letting it be a profit center for cable and telcos.

Of course! How could I not?

Net Neutrality is a principle as much as anything. Therefore, all that the state does should respect the principle.

Right now I am personally working hard, behind the scenes, to try to convince the FCC, and convince others to convince the FCC, that they need to adopt some form of strong Net Neutrality rules this year.

The duck question is back! I gave this a lot of thought, and I still stand by my old answer that the one Cuomo-sized duck would be easier, because the 100 duck sized Cuomos would get behind you and kick you off the ballot. (We're still on appeal). Other two questions in a sec.

First -- I think we definitely need more checks and balances, including an independent Lieutenant Governor who has his own agenda. I've written a white paper on this very topic. It is not the entire answer. Zephyr is saying more.

The answer is: expensive. But in weird ways. One reason it is expensive is that running has meant we have to defend lawsuits. We've been using a crowd-funding effort to try and fund this:

https://teachoutwu.tilt.com/save-teachout-wu-from-governor-cuomo-s-bullying

But we need more donors.

Second, is the need to buy old media ads in the most expensive market in the US (if not the world). That is what costs the millions (if we had them).

Weirdly, what is not expensive is the most valuable of all. Labor & staff We have attracted large numbers of volunteers, and people willing to work for reasonable wages, because they believe in the cause.

So in the end it is a little perverse. The most valuable thing: labor, is actually priced below market, while the expenses are things like ballot access, lawsuit defense, and, if we can afford it, old media ads. It seems backward to me.