My mom showed be a ginormous full page ad in the back of her local paper saying, "The cable company is making big bucks by keeping you from having a real choice." Assuming that this was somehow related to the Net Neutrality debate, we checked out the slick web site and read several pages that linked us to an e-mail template to write our Senators to "protect our rights". Fortunately, before we could get too far, we realized that this site and the coalition backing it is a shill for the telecom companies with "coalition members" including AT&T. So, the "coalition" is telling us to get behind the telecoms having the right to compete against the cable companies thereby giving consumers more choice. However, as is made very clear in a sentence about 3/4 down the page in the form letter, we are also to ask our Senators to reject any Net Neutrality provisions that impede their duopoly: "Unfortunately big on-line companies like Yahoo and Google are doing their best to confuse this important issue by attaching so called "net neutrality" language to this bill. I urge you to reject this tactic and put consumers first." What a scam!
So, I wrote the following e-mail to my mom's Senators:
Dear Senator:
Please be aware that the telecom lobby has put out an incredibly deceptive full page ad on the back of the WI State Journal. We are to assume that by sending you the "form letter" on the wewantchoice.com web site, we will be asking you to vote on legislation to protect our rights. Instead, buried 3/4 of the way down in the form letter is the real point – a passage asking you to reject any Net Neutrality language. What a scam! This site is getting people to believe it is a consumer group fighting for consumer choice, when it is really a telecom shill designed to defeat legislation that would protect consumers against the telecom duopoly with the cable companies – Bait and Switch! What is most insulting is that the telecom's message is being delivered in a deceptive form letter that the consumer is sending out under his or her own name. Please be aware of this scam!!!!
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WeWantChoice.com (the big telephone monopoly AT&T for sure) is running TV ads in Chicago area every few minutes. They have taken over telephone service, last mile for any Internet service, cellular service, and more. Now they want cable too? We have a choice here. Comcast, WOW, Dishnet, DirectTV!
We are way better off with any one of them, than AT&T, who is still charging us for caller id, call waiting, etc, that are basic services and are free with most VOIP and Cellular service. If we let AT&T provide cable also, they will charge for remote control, power plug and for changing channel.
WeWantChoice.com is certainly a scam!!!
Don't vote for this. The sole purpose of this ads and site is to scam you into voting to reject any Net Neutrality language.
No way AT&T!!