ppropriate direction. He knew how to curry favor without appearing obsequious and how to signal annoyance with just a soupçon of menace. And he understood the Tough Calls importance of covering his tracks, while magnifying his presence, by organizing coalitions of like-minded organizations. So he matched AOL's Open-Net Coalition by helping to launch and fund the Hands Off the Net Coalition, dedicated to the proposition that government regulation, such as requiring cable companies to lease their lines to Internet service providers, would kill the Internet. The coalition ran ads in communities with large numbers of broad- band Internet users (and, not coincidentally, those that would be con- sidering TCI franchise transfers). The ads showed happy families in front of their computers; while mom and dad helped junior with his homework, an ominous off-screen voice warned that monopolists such as the local phone companies were "asking the government to slow competition down." The coalition also filed amicus briefs sup- porting AT&T whenever the issue went to court and stimulated a string of editorials and op-eds. These grassroots efforts worked. Between 1998 and 2002, nine- teen states considered regulating broadband Internet access, but not one proposal moved out of committee. AT&T was hauled into court four times by those who were pushing for access to its cable lines and won all four cases. In 1999, the FCC approved the TCI merger with- out imposing broadband access requirements, and it has since refused to treat cable companies as common carriers, which would force them to open their cables to all comers. Of some 950 communities that had to approve the transfer of TCI's cable franchise to AT&T, only two or three tried to impose unacceptable conditions. However, the broadband access fight was really just a sideshow. While AT&T preferred to preserve the status quo in cable, the com- pany knew that it could reach a reasonable accommodation with the likes of AOL if push came to shove. The bigger threat would come from 