.png)
Privacy Please
Welcome to "Privacy Please," a podcast for anyone who wants to know more about data privacy and security. Join your hosts Cam and Gabe as they talk to experts, academics, authors, and activists to break down complex privacy topics in a way that's easy to understand.
In today's connected world, our personal information is constantly being collected, analyzed, and sometimes exploited. We believe everyone has a right to understand how their data is being used and what they can do to protect their privacy.
Please subscribe and help us reach more people!
Privacy Please
S6, E262 - WARNER BROS CRISIS: Class Action Lawsuit & The $108B Hostile Takeover (Dec 15 Update)
It is Monday, December 15th, and the battle for Hollywood has officially gone nuclear.
What started as an $82 billion acquisition by Netflix has morphed into a $108 billion hostile takeover battle with Paramount Skydance. As of this morning, stocks are volatile, the government has frozen the deal, and a massive Class Action Lawsuit has just been filed to burn it all down.
In this Special Report from Privacy Please, we break down the chaos of the last 72 hours. We uncover the "National Security" weapon Netflix is using to kill the deal, the foreign money backing Paramount, and the leaked memos that reveal why executives are selling you out.
No matter who wins—the Algorithm or the Oligarchs—your privacy is the casualty.
Time Stamps / Key Moments:
0:00 - Monday Morning Chaos: Stocks Halted & The $108B Counter-Bid
2:15 - Future A vs. Future B: The Algorithm Era vs. The Oligarch Era
5:30 - BREAKING: The "National Security" Argument & Class Action Lawsuit
8:45 - Leaked Memos: The "Golden Parachute" Betrayal
11:20 - The Fallout: Why Streaming Prices Will Hit $35/Month
What you'll uncover in this deep dive:
The Weekend of Chaos: A complete timeline of how Netflix lost control of the deal over the weekend.
The "Foreign Money" Threat: Why Paramount's backing by sovereign wealth funds has regulators panicked.
Netflix's Hypocrisy: How the surveillance giant is weaponizing "privacy" to stop their competitors.
The Consumer Cost: Why the era of cheap streaming is officially dead.
Join the Community: We are building a community dedicated to navigating these complex digital issues.
Website & Newsletter: https://www.theproblemlounge.com
Support the Show: http://buzzsprout.com/622234/support
Don't forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! Your support helps us uncover the stories Big Tech wants to hide.
#WarnerBros #Netflix #Paramount #StreamingWars #PrivacyPlease #Antitrust #FTC #DataPrivacy #Hollywood #BreakingNews #ClassAction #StockMarket
It's Thursday, December 11th, at the time of this recording. And if you tried to trade Warner Brothers today, you couldn't. Trading has been halted. The lawyers have been unleashed. The Civil War for Hollywood has officially gone nuclear. What started last Friday as a simple acquisition has morphed into a national security crisis. We have Netflix suing to block a rival bid. We have the FTC freezing the assets, and we have a hundred billion on the table. The prize? Batman, Harry Potter, and the private data of 150 million Americans. Today on Privacy Please, we break down the wildest week in media history. The Friday shock, the Monday ambush, and the Thursday meltdown. Who's gonna own your eyes next? And before we dig into this chaos, a quick reminder: we are building a community dedicated to navigating these complex and digital issues, and we'd love for you to be a part of it. If you're listening on a podcast app, please take a second to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you want to see the video version of this discussion, head over to our YouTube channel or our website, theproblemlounge.com, where you can find all of our links. Now, with that being said, let's dig in. Let's talk about something that people aren't really talking about. If you've been on social media this week, you're probably having a little bit of whiplash. Maybe maybe not that drastic, but um let's stop and rewind a little bit. To understand why the government froze everything today, we have to take a look at how this war started. It began last Friday. Netflix dropped a bombshell offering$82.7 billion to Warner Brothers. Their plan was ruthlessly efficient. Acquire HBO, the movie studios, and DC Comics, then feed the viewing data of 90 million HBO subscribers into their famous algorithm. We call this Future A, the algorithm era. Netflix would own the most comprehensive psychographic profile of human behavior in history. They would know your guilty pleasures and your high art tastes, allowing them to manipulate culture on a global scale. But then Monday happened. Just as Netflix was popping the champagne, Paramount Skydance kicked down the door. They launched a hostile all-cash counter bid of 108 billion. This is future B. Paramount wants to merge CNN with CBS News, creating a massive information monopoly, but the privacy please red flag is where the money is coming from. Paramount's bid is backed by a correlation of private equity and foreign sovereign wealth funds. So the choice is do you want a surveillance algorithm controlling your entertainment or a foreign-backed conglomerate controlling your news? Does it really matter at this point? Anyways, that brings us to today, which is when the gloves really came off. Thursday, the 11th, that I'm recording this, Netflix decided to play dirty. They filed a federal lawsuit to block Paramount, and their argument wasn't about antitrust or money. It was about national security. So Netflix is arguing that handing over CNN and the personal data of a million Americans to a company backed by foreign governments is a threat to the United States. The irony here is pretty staggering. Netflix, the company that invented mass surveillance for entertainment, is suddenly posing as the patriotic protector of your privacy. Classic. They are using our concerns, data sovereignty, privacy, security, as a weapon to kill their business rival. But make no mistake, Netflix doesn't care about protecting your data from foreign spies. They just want to make sure they are the only ones allowed to exploit it. This lawsuit was the final straw for the regulators. At 2 p.m. today, the Federal Trade Commission announced an emergency antitrust review of both bids, effectively freezing the deal in its tracks. So right now, Hollywood is paralyzed, but while the deal is frozen, the motivations are becoming clear. While lawyers fight in public, the executives are fighting in private. An internal leak from Warner Bros. this afternoon shows just how cynical this game really is. According to leaked memos, the current Warner Bros. board is leaning toward the Paramount deal. Is it because it's better for the company? No. Is it because it protects your data? Definitely not. The memo suggests that the Paramount deal structure offers massive golden parachute payouts for the current executives. Netflix deal, by contrast, likely involves firing them. This highlights the core theme of this show. You are the product. Your viewing habits, your subscription fees, and your loyalty are just poker chips. These executives are ready to sell you to a surveillance algorithm, Netflix, or a foreign-backed conglomerate, Paramount, based entirely on who writes them the biggest personal check. It's always money. Always is. So where do we stand right now? The deal is frozen, stock trading is halted, and the government is involved. But no matter who wins this war, the era of cheap and open streaming is dead. Let's break it down a little bit. The first one, prices will certainly soar. Whether it's$82 billion or$108 billion, someone has to pay that bill. Analysts predict subscription prices will likely jump to$30 or$35 billion a month by 2027 to cover the debt. The data will move. When this merger eventually happens, and it will, you will get a terms of service update email. Do not ignore it. This is the moment they legally claim ownership of your data under the new regime. Number three, the culture will shrink. We are watching the consolidation of American storytelling into fewer and fewer hands. The third place of the movie theater is at risk. Independent voices are at risk. My advice: if you love a movie, I'd go buy that physical copy. Own it. Because in the war for Warner, the only thing that matters to these giants is owning you and your data. We'll keep track of this story as it develops. Thank you for listening to Privacy Please. I find this one fascinating. Um there's a lot that goes into it as this as this unfolds. But once it does, we'll talk a little bit deeper about what that means for you and your privacy. Until next time, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in. Don't forget to follow and subscribe. We'll see you on the next one.
