Tag Archives: lobbying

Cable lobby says FCC launched assault on industry “without provocation”

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photo: NCTA/Flickr, Ars Technica

In today’s speech, [CEO Michael Powell, National Cable & Telecommunications Association] said cable companies face lots of video competition, though presumably he meant from online video providers rather than from other cable companies. – Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica

Even the cable industry’s top lobbyist thinks cable customer care is awful

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To oversimplify things a bit, cable lobbyists’ jobs are to believe cable companies can do no wrong, and to convince other people that the interests of their clients, regardless of how ridiculous they might be, are in consumers’ best interest as well.

It is particularly interesting, then, to learn that the cable industry’s top lobbyist has openly admitted that his clients’ customer service departments are subpar at best. – Zach Epstein, BGR

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How Comcast’s Political Machine Is Manipulating (And Impersonating) You

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Comcast writes letters for politicians. That’s the very simple explanation. The more complex version is that Comcast writes letters for democratically elected politicians, many of whom they also give money to. It’s kind of the opposite of how ghostwriting is supposed to work. Comcast pays for the privilege of ghostwriting a letter from your local leader to the federal government gatekeeper of its choice. Those letters inevitably make Comcast seem like a wonderful, loving company with America’s best interest in mind. All the local leader has to do is sign at the bottom. – Adam Clark Estes, Gizmodo

Inside the ingeniously sneaky tricks Comcast uses to get what it wants

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As Bloomberg News documents, one of Comcast’s go-to tactics for persuading lawmakers to support its merger proposals is pledging to expand its Internet Essentials program, which is designed to get more low-income people in the United States connected to the Internet. The problem is that few families appear to be taking advantage of these programs — Bloomberg writes that Internet Essentials “has reached 350,000 households — or about 13% of those eligible, according to one estimate. […] Washingtonian Magazine, meanwhile, explains how Comcast uses charity donations as a weapon — essentially, Comcast will make big donations to some charities and in exchange leans on them to publicly support the company during big public policy battles. – Brad Reed,BGR
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This video opposing net neutrality is too ridiculous to be criticized

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The worst propaganda is a YouTube video deceitfully titled “Clearing up Net Neutrality.” Produced by the conservative lobbying group FreedomWorks, which has reportedly taken money from both Verizon and AT&T, the 86-second production features a public relations employee hurling technologically illiterate accusations at supporters of the open Internet. The video, which is calculated to play on the layperson’s ignorance, unintentionally reveals the outright falsehoods of net neutrality opponents’ arguments. […] Most viewers are probably unaware that [Iris Somberg]’s organization has received funding from the very companies who stand to profit most from the death of net neutrality. FreedomWorks wants those naive individuals to believe that it’s actually speaking out against an injustice. The lie would be insulting if it weren’t so transparent. – Dell Cameron,The Daily Dot
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Net neutrality has some unlikely new champions, including Ford, UPS and Visa

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So why were these huge companies, which typically aren’t the biggest fans of government regulation, pushing the FCC to reclassify ISPs under Title II? According to documents filed with the commission, all these companies are concerned that American ISPs have “terminating access monopolies,” which the companies were all concerned would be exploited to the detriment of online commerce as a whole. These revelations are all very interesting even though the companies involved don’t want anyone to know about their lobbying and they’re all denying that they specifically lobbied the FCC to enact Title II even though the newly unearthed documents show otherwise. – Bloomberg Businessweek via Brad Reed,BGR
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MPAA Lobbies Lawmakers on Internet Tax and Net Neutrality

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The MPAA’s most recent lobbying disclosure form has added several new topics that weren’t on the agenda last quarter. Among other issues, the movie group lobbied the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on Internet tax, net neutrality and online service provider liability. […] While the MPAA hasn’t got involved publicly in the recent net neutrality discussions, it clearly has something to tell to lawmakers. The Hollywood group most likely wants to assure that its anti-piracy efforts aren’t hindered by future legislation. – Ernesto,TorrentFreak 

AT&T: Cities should never offer Internet service where ISPs already do or might later

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“GONs [government-owned networks] should not be utilized where the private sector already is providing broadband or can be expected to do so in a reasonable timeframe,” AT&T attorneys wrote in a filing with the FCC on Friday. “Although many GONs have failed, or at least failed to live up to expectations, GONs can nonetheless discourage private sector investment because of understandable concerns by private sector entities of a non-level playing field. And any policy that risks diminishing private sector investment would be short-sighted and unwise.” – Jon Brodkin,Ars Technica
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How big telecom smothers city-run broadband

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Tullahoma, Tennessee is just one battlefront in a nationwide war that the telecommunications giants are fighting against the spread of municipal broadband networks. For more than a decade, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable Inc., and CenturyLink Inc. have spent millions of dollars to lobby state legislatures, influence state elections, and buy research to try to stop the spread of public Internet services that often offer faster speeds at cheaper rates. […] Now the fight has gone national. The Federal Communications Commission in Washington, DC, is considering requests from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina, to pre-empt state laws that block municipalities from building or expanding broadband networks, hindering economic growth, the cities argue. – Allan Holmes,Ars Technica
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Comcast, Time Warner Cable help honor Mignon Clyburn amid merger review

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Comcast and Time Warner Cable are sponsoring a dinner honoring FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at a time when the agency is weighing whether to approve a multibillion-dollar merger between the two companies. […] The contributions come as FCC and Justice Department officials review the $45 billion megadeal, which would give Comcast control of about 30 percent of U.S. pay-TV subscribers and about 40 percent of the country’s broadband market. […] Comcast and Time Warner Cable, like the rest of the telecom industry, have robust lobbying operations in Washington and are working hard to win approval for their proposed merger. – Alex Byers,POLITICO
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