Save Access

from: MultiChannel News

Mad Money
Cable, Phone, Net Companies Have Spent $110 Million This Year To Influence Telecom Reform. Was It Worth It?
By Ted Hearn 10/23/2006

Washington— On a cold evening in February, cable and telecommunications lobbyists packed the second floor of restaurant Bistro Bis on Capitol Hill to salute Mitch Rose’s decision to leave an executive lobbying post at The Walt Disney Co. and go into business for himself.

Yes it’s yet another astroturf organization planting plastic propaganda. The MyWireless.org domain is registered to a DC based non-profit via Nelson Lathrop (nlathrop@ctia.org – dns info below). CTIA.ORG is an industry group representing many telcos including Verizon (see: http://ctia.org/membership/ctia_members/index.cfm).

This is a new potentially dangerous spin on HR5252 – now we have 'wireless taxes and consumers' in addition to the older ploy of 'saving consumers from high cable TV rates'. It seems the telcos have an endless pool of funds available to convince our legislators that their legislation will save 'consumers' money.

from: CED Magazine

Coalition forms in opposition to net neutrality

By Brian Santo, CED
5/9/2006 12:13:00 PM

A group of 24 conservative and libertarian organizations have formed the Internet Freedom Coalition (IFC) to oppose government regulations requiring network neutrality.

The new group contends the effort to assure net neutrality "is the first giant leap toward government regulation of the Internet," according to Jason Wright, president of the Institute for Liberty and an IFC co-director.

Note: It's always interesting when corporate financed 'non-profit' organizations attack legitimate citizen groups and claim they are anti-consumer. Jason Wright and The Institute for Liberty is one such organization (often referred to as an astroturf). We're still curious how red-lining and loss of first amendment speech can be considered pro-consumer. Perhaps Mr. Wright will explain it to us. In addition to the website for Institute for Liberty, he also has a personal site (complete with pictures with Cheney and Rumsfeld) and a policy site, Tech Policy Watch, intended for DC Legislators.

from: My DD

The Internet Slaps Back At Nasty Actors

by Matt Stoller
Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 07:55:45 PM EST

There's lots of very cool electoral, political, and organizational news on the net neutrality front, including more public humiliation of net neutrality opponents. The video above is just one local story from Save the Internet's nationwide set of rallies over the past few days. Here's where we are in the fight.

from: Telecom Web

Lobbyists Warm Up For Renewed Video-Franchise Battle

The telco-based Consumers for Cable Choice (C4CC) group has begun its lobbying campaign in preparation for the reconvening of the U.S. Congress, with a renewed call for federal legislation that will streamline video franchising and establish a national system.

Also worth mentioning: Many of the reports issued by the Heartland Institute are written by FreedomWorks researchers.

from: Digital Destiny

Heart [less] Institute: Part of the Telecom/Cable Lobby Support System

The Heartland Institute is one of the never-ending series of groups that attempt to place the interests of big phone and cable monopolies before those of the average American. Ideology shapes the findings of this group. If it had a MySpace page, its “friends” would include the Progress and Freedom Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Cato, and the Pacific Research Foundation. They are a well-connected and networked web of organizations used to advance the narrow, monopoly-building agendas of Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and a few others.

from: Digital Trends

Telcos Try Viral Lobbying
By Mark Fleischmann
July 27th, 2006

You’ve seen the television commercials urging relief from cable price hikes. A red line on a black bar graph—labeled food, electric water, gas, cable bills—inches steadily upward as viewers are exhorted to lobby their congresspeople for lower cable rates. Who is behind the campaign that includes these TV4US ads and wewantchoice.com?

When the astroturfs come out in support of a Congressional vote - it's a good sign there's something terribly wrong with the legislation. Below are press releases from several phone company front groups, including: Hands Off The Internet, TV4US Coalition, Video Access Alliance and Telecommunications Industry Association

Astroturfs in Bloom
by saveaccess.org

The astroturfs are suddenly sprouting plastic blooms again, and it can only mean one thing - Congress is about to vote on something. That 'something' is the Senate Commerce Committee 'mark-up' of S.2686 tomorrow (6/22). A google search for the Bill's name "Communications, Consumers' Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" turns up multiples of one article released by TV4US through the corporate service 'PR Newswire':