With the network neutrality circus
back in town, the use of bogus grass roots groups (aka "astroturf") is again on the upswing as corporations lobby Uncle Sam to prevent network neutrality legislation. Such misleadingly named groups (grandmothers for network justice?) are used by corporations in every sector to give the
illusion of broad consumer support for ideas that are anti-consumer. In telecom, that means supporting metered billing (it's patriotic!) higher prices (it's good for you!) and fewer consumer protections (all government regulation kills puppies, fellow patriot).
Free Press, one of the few consumer advocacy groups these days that
actually represents consumers without taking corporate cash, this week
took aim at astroturf, highlighting how many additional consumers could be wired for the amount of money spent on misleading lobbying. The group went a little further by creating a
handy interactive graphic on the subject.
Comcast's
annual lobbying budget jumped from $570,000 in 2001 to $12.5 million in 2008, while cable lobbying group the NCTA doubled its lobbying budget to $14.4 million during the same period. Verizon's lobbying rose to $18 million in 2008 from $8.2 million in 2001, while AT&T's annual budget fattened to $15.1 million in 2008 from $6.1 million.
But direct lobbying budgets are only a very small part of it. Those numbers don't include the hiring of
smear merchants, the creation of
artificial consumer advocacy groups, or the use of legitimate disability and minority groups, who
parrot whatever company positions they're told to in exchange for a nice new events center.
Collectively, this creates the illusion of broad support for laws or policies that a public majority would never actually support. Like oh, broadband caps as low as 1GB with per gig overages that require second mortgages.
"The fake grassroots groups are spending major resources to deceive the public and promote agendas of the corporations that sign their paychecks," said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press. "We need transparency, accountability and honest debate. The crucial policy decisions being made right now about the future of the Internet must be based on independent research, reliable data and facts. The phone and cable companies must stop distorting the issues and hiding behind their astroturf groups, sock puppets and hired shills."
Sure, ok -- but nobody ever seems to have a real solution to this problem. I've been complaining about these groups for a decade but they only seem to get worse (see the current health care "debate" as exhibit A). Corporate "personhood" gives the companies involved the right to free speech, but should there be restrictions forcing companies to only speak
as themselves? Artificial consumer groups and other forms of disinformation are the worst sort of propaganda -- but outside of consumer education (or napalm) what exactly is the solution?
Earlier this year,
we noted how the press became enamored with the idea that the recession was driving people back to dial-up, even if reporters lacked a shred of data to support the idea. The articles (be they from the
Associated Press,
Tampa Tribune or
Chicago Tribune, all started with the sad tale of some poor Joe or Jane who decided to slum it on 56kbps because his or her retirement fund tanked.
They went on to infer a broader trend was afoot, despite quoting analysts in their own pieces who insisted otherwise. Many of the stories quoted Earthlink's Kevin Brand, who got the opportunity to pitch sluggish, frequently unreliable dial-up to the nation's cheapskates and masochists as part of a $7.95/month dial-up "recession special," which kind of floated over the fact that you also need a traditional landline:
"If you need a job, you really need to stay connected," said Kevin Brand, EarthLink's senior vice president of product management.
story continues..There's not a broadband provider out there who wouldn't instantly begin billing you by the byte if they thought you (the consumer) would sign off on it. Unfortunately for them, Time Warner Cable's recent
PR disaster illustrated that consumers aren't sold on low caps and high overages when broadband delivery costs
continue to drop. Many customers may be stupid, but they can apparently read Time Warner Cable's 10-K form, which shows that flat-rate billing has provided Time Warner Cable with very healthy profits.
Meanwhile, Verizon currently doesn't cap or meter their FiOS customers, which acts as a deterrent for competitors in Verizon markets eager to implement metered billing.
If you recall,
five years ago or so, when Intel first began really seriously hyping their investment in WiMax, they called the technology "the most important thing since the Internet itself." Half a decade later, much of WiMax's U.S. success now hinges on the new Clearwire joint venture -- whose network build is reportedly
facing delays because of the credit crunch. Intel this week went into damage control mode, telling any
reporter who'd
listen that WiMax struggles in the United States aren't a big deal -- and that globally, the technology will reach 800 million people by 2010. Next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, you can expect Intel to unleash an even larger public relations blitzkrieg aimed at shoring up WiMax's sagging image, while keeping AT&T and Verizon at bay.
BBR text mode
We will allow customers to connect any device that meets our minimum technical standards, and be activated on our network.