Harm to Competition and Broadband 101

In order to get rid of competitors such as MCI, Verizon hired IDI to create a fake rally, got the Gray Panthers to run adds, and even got the Church of Christ involved. In another case, TRAC created a new coalition to back the Bell company broadband plans which included the Gray Panthers, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Black Leadership Forum, and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) -- all backed by the Bell companies.

Harm To Competitors 101

• "Gray Panther Ads Targeting WorldCom Funded by IDI Corporate Crime Reporter, 6/2/03 Earlier this month, the Gray Panthers, a public interest group that defends the rights of senior citizens, took out full page ads in newspapers around the country calling on federal officials to stop awarding federal contracts to MCI WorldCom -- which committed one of the largest corporate frauds in history. At the bottom of the ads, in small type, is this :"This ad was paid for by Gray Panthers."

  "In fact, the $200,000 spent by the Gray Panthers to place the newspaper ads was raised by Issue Dynamics Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm that represents the Baby Bells in their fight against WorldCom and that specializes in "bridging gaps between industry and consumer groups on public policy issues."

• WorldCom Opponents In Sync D.C. Firm Helps Organize Protest, Washington Post, 6/30/03 Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe confirmed that IDI is working for the telephone company. "We are happy to support groups that have similar views as ours, and Sam is bringing us together," Rabe said. "...Rabe would not say how much Verizon is paying IDI. He said Verizon is not the only company contributing to a "funding pool" on the WorldCom issue, but he declined to identify other participants."

According to the Washington Post,

• "…last year IDI organized an effort by the National Association of the Deaf, the American Foundation for the Blind and the American Association of People With Disabilities to support a bill pushed by the local telephone companies to relax rules that require them to share their high-speed networks with rivals. In a news release issued by IDI, the groups said they would benefit because the bill would increase access to broadband for everyone, including those with disabilities."
• "United Church of Christ Stooge for the Baby Bells? UCCtruths.com
• Gloria Tristani, managing director of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ (OC, Inc.) and former Commissioner of the FCC.
• Source Watch: Issue Dynamics "...its work has angered some consumer activists, who say IDI often does not disclose whom it is working for and argue that IDI's work amounts to astroturf PR."
• Gray Panthers' Corporate Connection, 6/25/03, CommonDreams.org
• "Over the past couple of years, Issue Dynamics played a pivotal role in turning the National Consumers League from a consumer group into a corporate front group. And last year, Sam Simon, Issue Dynamics' founder and president, was named chair of the board of the National Consumers League."

Sam Takes the Consumer Groups to Fight For Bell Broadband.

What do all of these groups have in common?

• Gray Panthers
• American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
• Black Leadership Forum
• League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

This group jointly signed an ex parte letter to the FCC that says --- the Bell companies shouldn't have to open their fiber-optic networks to competition. Why is it important for these groups to support the Bell companies and why would they care? Well, work by Ionary Consulting revealed that these groups got large donations from Verizon:

• $50,000 to the Black Leadership Forum
• $205,500 to LULAC
• AAPD got "major" donations from both Verizon and the Verizon Foundation, and put a Verizon VP on its own board.

Is it any wonder that these groups met with Commissioner Martin and Commission Abernathy at the FCC? Here's letters disclosing that they met with commissioners and staff, as well as presenting a summary about policies the FCC should follow about broadband.

• Commissioner Martin and staff.
• Commissioner Abernathy and staff.
• The Groups' position -- the Bell position.

What was probably not mentioned anywhere is that these groups most likely did NOT disclose that they were funded by the phone companies, even though they were dressed as consumer groups, representing blacks, seniors, Hispanics, and people with disabilities.