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from: Consumer Affairs

Net Neutrality Opponents Step Up PR Blitz
Telco Tubbies Dust off their Disinformation Machines

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

September 20, 2006

In the face of an unexpected grassroots campaign to support the principle of equal Internet access for all, telecommunications and cable firms are pulling out all the stops to ensure that legislation supporting their desires gets through Congress this year.

from: Technology Daily

McCain: Telecom Bill Not Dead Yet

By Heather Greenfield

(Wednesday, September 20) Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told technology company leaders that a major telecommunications bill is not dead and could see Senate floor action in a lame-duck session.

Note: We have three weeks to go in this Senate session before the lame duck session after the elections, let's make sure this period is a telecom bill wake.

from: Technology Daily

Budget Office Pegs Bill Cost At $5.2 Billion

By David Hatch

(Tuesday, September 19) The Senate telecommunications bill would increase U.S. government spending by $5.2 billion from 2007 to 2016, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a just-released report. During that period, however, U.S. Treasury revenue would grow by $5 billion, the report predicts.

from: The Nation

Replaced by a Chimp: Life After Net Neutrality

by JEFFREY CHESTER

[posted online on September 19, 2006]

Despite growing opposition, Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens appears determined to pass his telecom giveaway bill this year. If Stevens and his pals in the telecom and cable industries prevail, expect the free flow of online content to be replaced by corporate infotainment like Anheuser-Busch's lowbrow broadband Bud-TV.

from: Telecom Web

Gov't Lawyers Blast Telecom Bill's State Pre-Emptions

At least 41 attorneys general have told the U.S. Congress they "strongly oppose" provisos in pending telecom legislation that would, in their opinions, pre-empt states from enforcing consumer-protection laws applicable to wireless carriers and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers.

from: Technology Daily

Last-Minute Lobbying Intensifies On Telecom Overhaul Legislation

By David Hatch

(Tuesday, September 19) Supporters and opponents of deregulatory telecommunications legislation are engaging in last-minute lobbying efforts to block, pass or alter the measure before Congress adjourns.

from: Wall Street Journal

Stevens Embraces Telephone Poll

Pollsters hired by Verizon Communications Inc. presented a study today that suggests consumers overwhelming reject “net neutrality” Internet regulations but they support Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’s voluminous bill that rewrites many of the nation’s communications laws.

from: MY DD

Industry Shill Polling Coming Out on Net Neutrality

by Matt Stoller, Mon Sep 18, 2006

I've got my hands on some poor quality polling done by the Glover Park Group and Public Opinion Strategies on net neutrality. It's being passed around on the Hill by the telecom shills.

Here's a sample question:

Senator Stevens effort to get enough votes to push his Telecommunications Bill (ATOR HR 5252) to the Senate floor has reached a new low point. On Sept 18th, Stevens released an opinion poll on the US Senate Commerce Committee web site that shows that Americans want better cable service for lower prices – quite an insight! Unfortunately for Stevens, the poll also clearly demonstrates that those polled know little about the issue at hand, much less the details of his telecommunications legislation.

from: Telecom Web

Is It Back To The Drawing Board For Pending Telecom Reform?

The number of senators doubting the passage of telecom legislation this session continues to grow.

"We only have three weeks," said Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), featured this past weekend on C-SPAN's "The Communicators" show (which will encore tonight at 8 p.m. on C-SPAN 2.) Noting that some lawmakers are threatening a filibuster over net neutrality, Sununu predicted Congress will return next year to "take a look at the lay of the land and perhaps craft a new piece of legislation."