CNN News: AT&T与美国司法部对簿公堂

A trial is going on right now that's closely being watched by companies and legal experts around America. AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, for more than $85 billion.Today, AT&T is a large wireless company and satellite TV distributor. But what it does not have is content programming and entertainment. And that's why it wants Time Warner, which includes CNN, HBO, Warner Brothers, TNT and TBS. The merger would be one of the biggest media deals in history, but the U.S. government is trying to block it and one big question is, will the merger break U.S. antitrust laws, which are designed to keep American companies from having too much control over the market.

美国各公司和法律专家都在密切关注正在进行的一场审讯。AT&T正在试图以超过850亿美元的价格收购CNN的母公司时代华纳。AT&T是一家大型无线网络公司兼卫星电视分销商。但是AT&T旗下没有内容编排服务和娱乐服务。这也是其想收购时代华纳的原因，因为时代华纳旗下拥有CNN、HBO、华纳兄弟、TNT和TBS。这起并购案将成为史上最大规模的传媒业交易，但是美国政府在试图阻止这场交易，现在重要的问题是，这起并购案是否违反美国反垄断法，该法旨在阻止美国公司拥有过多的市场控制权。

HADAS GOLD, CNNMONEY: The antitrust case of the decade is here. It's a case that will be thought in law schools for years to come. Back in 2016, when AT&T announced plans to buy Time Warner, which, yes, owns CNN, most media analysts assumed that the deal would be approved.

After all, it's a vertical merger. That means it's two companies that don't directly compete with one another. Think of it like a shoe company buying the leather manufacturer. So, a year later, when the Justice Department sued to block the $85 billion bid, it was a big deal.

CNNMONEY主持人哈达斯•高尔德：这是10年来规模最大的反垄断案。该案在未来数年都将被法律学校当作案例讨论。AT&T在2016年宣布其计划收购CNN的母公司时代华纳，当时大多数传媒分析师认为这笔交易会获得批准。毕竟这是纵向兼并。即两家公司不是直接竞争关系。比如一家鞋业公司收购一家皮鞋制造商。而一年之后，美国司法部起诉AT&T，阻止其以850亿美元收纳时代华纳的交易，这造成了轰动。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news here, the Justice Department is said to file a lawsuit to block AT&T's takeover of Time Warner.

身份不明的女性：现在来看突发新闻，美国司法部向法庭提起诉讼，希望阻止AT&T收购时代华纳。

GOLD: At first, AT&T claimed selective enforcement, basically saying that it was personal between the president and CNN. But now, it's unlikely we'll even hear the words "Donald Trump" during this trial. A judge blocked AT&T's request to use messages between the administration and regulators about the merger. So, the company will not be using the political bias argument in court. Instead, we're in for a battle fought on more traditional antitrust grounds.The Justice Department says the combination of AT&T and Time Warner will lead to higher prices for consumers, and it argues AT&T could hog its content, must-haves like sports and news, by not making it available to outside distribution. AT&T argues that it needs this merger to better compete with upstarts like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. It says there's no evidence prices will go up and that they won't withhold content from anybody, because then they'd make less money.

高尔德：一开始，AT&T称这是选择性执法，基本上来说就是总统和CNN之间的个人恩怨。但是现在，我们在审讯中甚至不太可能听到“唐纳德•特朗普”这个名字了。AT&T希望使用政府与监管机构之间有关这一并购案的信息，但是一名法官驳回了AT&T的这一请求。因此，该公司在法庭上无法提出政治偏见这一论点。相反，现在这一案件将以更为传统的反垄断理由进行。美国司法部表示，AT&T并购时代华纳将提升消费者需要支付的费用，并称AT&T可能会独占内容，比如体育和新闻等必需内容，使外部分销商无法获得这些内容。AT&T辩称，该公司需要通过这笔并购交易来与脸谱网、亚马逊和网飞公司等新晋公司竞争。AT&T表示，没有证据表明价格会上升，他们也不会阻止其他公司分享内容，因为这会减少他们的收入。

It's not just AT&T and Time Warner who care about the outcome of this case. Other media companies considering mergers like Disney and 21st Century Fox are watching carefully.

关心这起案件结果的不只是AT&T和时代华纳。像迪士尼和21世纪福克斯等其他考虑并购交易的传媒公司同样在密切关注。

If the Justice Department succeeds in blocking the merger, some see signals of a new era of government scrutiny. That might stop some future deals from going forward.That's why this case could change the course of media industry history.

一些人认为，如果美国司法部成功阻止了这起并购交易，那就表明政府审查的新时代即将开始。这可能会导致未来的一些交易无法进行。这也是此案可能会改变传媒业历史的原因。