The accelerating rush to re-amalgamate the entire US phone system (the breakup of which was just about the last gasp of active antitrust enforcement) has hit a speed bump. One of the FCC commissioners whose vote is needed to allow the merger of BellSouth (my phone company, and the only source of broadband Internet in my exceedingly rural area) and the resurgent AT&T is refusing to vote on the matter. He made this decision final today. Robert McDowell says it would be unethical for him to vote on the matter as he has recently done lobbying for the telecommunications industry. Read more…