Broadband Reports notes that Common Cause has issued a new report exposing the latest round of bogus consumer advocacy outfits.
Back in March, Common Cause released its first “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing” report, detailing the activities of nine groups masquerading as think tanks and public interest organizations, but controlled by telephone and cable companies. Since then, we’ve gotten the dirt on five more.
For example, Hands off the Internet sounds like activists wanting to protect the Internet. Actually, it’s a telecommunications industry-backed organization that was spending $20,000 a day on television commercials aimed at eliminating long-standing net neutrality protections so that telephone and cable companies can maximize profit and minimize competition on the Internet.
Click here to download the report and read the truth about all five groups.
The Oregonian newspaper, whose online edition is owned and operated by Advance Publications, editorialized against “Net Neutrality” - in an unsigned editorial.
Advance/Newhouse Communications — which owns the Oregonian’s Online business (OregonLive) — is linked in a joint mobile partnership with Sprint Nextel and Cable. The newspaper never mentioned that fact.
Beginning in 2006, the joint venture of Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Advance/Newhouse Communications plans to:
- Offer consumers access to a “Quadruple Play,” or any combination of services including video, wireless voice and data services, high speed Internet and cable phone service
- Serve growing consumer demand for a wireless “third screen” beyond the TV and computer screens
- Develop and introduce new co-branded wireless devices and services that will provide new and unique features that integrate cable and wireless services
- Sell and market these co-branded products and services to customers through a combination of 1,600 Sprint retail stores, cable retail outlets and other third-party distributors, including thousands of RadioShack stores
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Advance/Newhouse Communications wants to be on the Sprint/Cable wireless tier. They appear to be sacrificing their journalistic standards to get there.
Poynter says without net neutrality, news organizations could be shaken down by telcos for additional fees to guarantee “preferential delivery” of their content via the telco’s “pipes.” But that’s the voice of the newsroom - not publishers.
Advance already has their cut. Apparently propaganda pays better than journalism.
Just ask Mary Hart.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Net Neutrality: Not Dead, Wyden Blocks Telecom Vote, Net Neutrality: Bridge to Nowhere?, Cable/Sprint Pole Dance, Dirty Tricks for Net Neutrality, Sprint/Cable Venture Gets Head and AWS Spectrum for Cable/Sprint?.
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