AT&T lobbyist asks employees, their families and friends to protest net neutrality rules

Washingon Post ^ | 20 October 2009 | Cecilia King

[ShadowAce]

AT&T's top lobbyist, Jim Cicconi, sent a letter to all of the telecom giant's 300,000 employees on Sunday, urging them to express their concerns over a net neutrality proposal under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission. Check out his letter and comments on the Actuarian Outpost Web site.

The letter was the latest move in a lobbying frenzy days before the FCC votes on a proposal to create new net neutrality regulations. High-tech giants wrote to the agency to support the rules, while dozens of lawmakers from both parties have protested the rules as potentially dangerout to economic growth.

"We encourage you, your family and friends to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet," Cicconi wrote in his letter. The company verified the letter.

Cicconi explained how employees could use a personal e-mail account to post comments on the FCC's net neutrality Web site to about the rules. He said the comment period had been extended until Thursday, when the agency's five commissioners are scheduled to vote on a proposal that would begin the formalization of rules.

"Those who seek to impose extreme regulations on the network are flooding the site to influence the FCC," he wrote. "It's now time for you to voice your opinion."

Cicconi has criticized FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's push to strengthen and broaden rules for how Internet service providers treat content on their networks. Cicconi said such rules should not apply to wireless networks, which have less capacity than fixed wireline networks like cable. He has said that AT&T Mobility and other mobile broadband providers should not be strapped by new rules when it comes to managing broadband traffic congestion.

In the letter, he offered several talking points.
1.Wireless consumers enjoy a many options for mobile...

[ShadowAce]

[buffyt]

Al Gore invented the internet!
LOL

Obama wouldn’t know how to take over the internet, or health care, or auto industry, or banking industry...
not by himself. He doesn’t have a clue. Just ask him to overhaul your car engine, or do heart surgery on you. He doesn’t know the first thing about anything, yet he plans to CONTROL it and RUN it all.

[af_vet_rr]

He doesn’t have a clue. Just ask him to overhaul your car engine, or do heart surgery on you. He doesn’t know the first thing about anything, yet he plans to CONTROL it and RUN it all.

You and Obama have something in common - you don't have a clue either.

How would you feel if your internet provider decided Free Republic was promoting hate speech and barred you accessing FreeRepublic.com?

How would you feel if some anti-gun groups lobbied your interent provider to ban access to NRA.org or Colt.com and successfully prevented you from accessing those sites?

If that worries you, then you should be in favor of net neutrality.

If you don't think that's possible, just look at the liberals who have pressured advertisers to bail on Glenn Beck.

Imagine if our ISPs could restrict our access to certain sites or applications on a whim.

Imagine anti-gun groups pressuring your ISP to keep you from accessing pro-2nd Amendment websites.

If you don't support net neutrality, I don't want to hear you crying when Time Warner or AT&T or Comcast cuts off your access to NRA.org or FreeRepublic.com or any other conservative site you might frequent because the liberals successfully lobbied them to.

If you don't think it can happen, keep in mind how easily things are labeled "hate speech" in this country, and if the ISPs have full control over your activites, you'll be in for a shock one of these days.