| Published 2 years ago
AT&T's government lobbying has a long and fairly sordid history. Before taking you inside our investigation of AT&T's recent anti-net neutrality lobbying (and the charges of "astroturfing" being thrown around), let's take a stroll down memory lane.
It was 1976, and a House subcommittee was considering a bill called the Consumer Communications Reform Act. The proposed law, heavily backed by AT&T, would have made the then monopoly even more of one by effectively declaring its long distance system America's "official" service. The bill clearly targeted a competitor: MCI's new microwave tower network, just being rolled out across the country. For days, Capitol Hill had been deluged by workers, priests, police chiefs, mayors, and anybody else Ma Bell could round up to support the legislation.
Then Representative Tim Wirth of Colorado walked into the hearing room. He saw that it was packed with people. Wirth asked the first panelist, an AT&T executive, to identify his colleagues. Five minutes later the man was still reading out names.
"Will everyone associated with AT&T just stand up?" an exasperated Wirth finally asked. The entire room rose. Everyone started laughing.
As it was then, so it is now. It should be no surprise to anyone that, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes new net neutrality rules, AT&T Senior Vice President Jim Cicconi has sent out a e-mail to the company's entire managerial staff urging them to deluge the FCC's new discussion site with anti-net neutrality comments. The memo includes recommended talking points:
"The 'net neutrality' rules as reported will jeopardize the very goals supported by the Obama administration that every American have access to high-speed Internet services no matter where they live or their economic circumstance," Cicconi warns. "That goal can't be met with rules that halt private investment in broadband infrastructure. And the jobs associated with that investment will be lost at a time when the country can least afford it."
Fair enough; AT&T doesn't like the idea of network neutrality rules. But the company has long been accused of going well beyond such overt lobbying. It's also said to be a master at creating fake grassroots enthusiasm—so-called "astroturf" campaigns—often using small minority and civil rights groups as pawns in its government affairs chess game. Those charges are now being made once again, and Ars investigated the issue. Read more at: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/the-anti-net-neutrality-movement-is-it-just-about-att-money.ars
It was 1976, and a House subcommittee was considering a bill called the Consumer Communications Reform Act. The proposed law, heavily backed by AT&T, would have made the then monopoly even more of one by effectively declaring its long distance system America's "official" service. The bill clearly targeted a competitor: MCI's new microwave tower network, just being rolled out across the country. For days, Capitol Hill had been deluged by workers, priests, police chiefs, mayors, and anybody else Ma Bell could round up to support the legislation.
Then Representative Tim Wirth of Colorado walked into the hearing room. He saw that it was packed with people. Wirth asked the first panelist, an AT&T executive, to identify his colleagues. Five minutes later the man was still reading out names.
"Will everyone associated with AT&T just stand up?" an exasperated Wirth finally asked. The entire room rose. Everyone started laughing.
As it was then, so it is now. It should be no surprise to anyone that, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes new net neutrality rules, AT&T Senior Vice President Jim Cicconi has sent out a e-mail to the company's entire managerial staff urging them to deluge the FCC's new discussion site with anti-net neutrality comments. The memo includes recommended talking points:
"The 'net neutrality' rules as reported will jeopardize the very goals supported by the Obama administration that every American have access to high-speed Internet services no matter where they live or their economic circumstance," Cicconi warns. "That goal can't be met with rules that halt private investment in broadband infrastructure. And the jobs associated with that investment will be lost at a time when the country can least afford it."
Fair enough; AT&T doesn't like the idea of network neutrality rules. But the company has long been accused of going well beyond such overt lobbying. It's also said to be a master at creating fake grassroots enthusiasm—so-called "astroturf" campaigns—often using small minority and civil rights groups as pawns in its government affairs chess game. Those charges are now being made once again, and Ars investigated the issue. Read more at: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/the-anti-net-neutrality-movement-is-it-just-about-att-money.ars
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