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AT&T Accused Of 'Astroturfing' On Net Neutrality
Macworld ^ | 10/20/09 | Grant Gross

Posted on 10/20/2009 2:16:19 PM PDT by steve-b

An AT&T executive has asked employees to post opposition to net neutrality rules being considered by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on an FCC Web site using their personal e-mail addresses, prompting accusations of unfair advocacy by an opposing group.

The AT&T letter, sent this week by Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs, asks employees to go to OpenInternet.gov and use a personal e-mail address to join the discussion forum there.

The letter then gives five talking points that AT&T employees can use to argue against net neutrality in the days leading up to Thursday’s FCC meeting, in which the agency is expected to take the first steps toward developing formal net neutrality rules.

The letter is a "kind of astroturfing," the act of creating fake grassroots opposition to an issue, said Tim Karr, campaign director for Free Press, a media reform advocacy group and net neutrality supporter.

"Coming from one of the company’s most senior executives, it's hard to imagine AT&T employees thinking the memo was merely a suggestion," Karr said in a blog post.

The letter is asking AT&T workers to be "sort of deceptive," Karr added in an interview. "He’s asking them to regurgitate talking points that are at best debatable."...

(Excerpt) Read more at macworld.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Technical
KEYWORDS: agenda; astroturf; astroturfing; att; fcc; internet; netneutrality
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To: steve-b
I guess they'd be in good company then: 'Net Neutrality' Is Socialism, Not Freedom
21 posted on 10/20/2009 7:21:28 PM PDT by jurroppi1 (America, do not commit Barry Care-y!)
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To: jurroppi1

Gun Owners of America are socialists. Gotcha.


22 posted on 10/21/2009 6:12:53 AM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent Design -- "A Wizard Did It")
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To: steve-b

Not what I was referring to, nor do I understand how you got there...

My point was that if you are considering AT&T to be fraudsters (I may have gotten your insinuation wrong myself), then they would be in good company based on the list of supporters in the thread I linked to.

That was all I was getting at. Apparently you thought I was referring to your post (the thread starter), but I wasn’t proffering an opinion on that at all. GOA, however good their intentions may be on this might just be naive about net neutrality in the form it will take under an obama administration... They (the administration) seem to have perverted everything else. GOA assumes that the current administration will not use net neutrality as a bludgeon to stifle dissent. I’m not so willing to disavow the possibility of that myself.

truce?


23 posted on 10/21/2009 7:00:08 AM PDT by jurroppi1 (America, do not commit Barry Care-y!)
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To: steve-b

Just keep pushing B. Hussein


24 posted on 10/21/2009 7:01:50 AM PDT by Kakaze (Exterminate Islamofacism and apologize for nothing.....except not doing it sooner!)
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