June 01, 2005
Wireless Industry Emailing Portlanders To Prevent Cellular Tax?
Using 'Advocacy' Front Group To Hide Its Trail
A reader tipped us to the fact that they had received an advocacy email regarding Commissioner Randy Leonard's proposed modernization of the City's telephone taxes to incorporate cell phones (email received, incidentally, at an email address this reader says they've only ever used for personal communications).
This email comes from a blurry entity dubbing itself MyWireless, whose website doesn't exactly go out of its way to explain just who they are, describing themselves simply as "a non-profit advocacy organization giving wireless consumers a clear and powerful voice to protect the freedom, value, security and mobility they enjoy with wireless services".
However, registration for the organization's domain reveals that the organization in actuality is linked to CTIA -- "the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry". Their membership, as expected, is a massive list of companies operating in the field of wireless.
Not unlike the fake citizens organization used in 2003 by the local electric utilities to fend off a proposed Public Utility District in the Portland area, MyWireless is little more than a front group for corporate interests, and not some sort of grassroots non-profit as its website tries to imply.
For the record, we don't object to bringing the City's telecommunications taxes into line with current technology, although we do have serious questions about trying to incorporate Voice Over IP (VOIP), otherwise known as Internet telephony -- since if one's broadband access is via DSL, you're already paying fees and taxes on the telephone line required for that connection.
But more than that, when industries feel they must resort to using front groups to advance their agenda, we get more than a little irked, and even more inclined to support whatever it is they are opposing.
Posted at 01:35 PM | PermalinkComments (6) | TrackBacks (1)
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Comments (6)
nader on 01 Jun 2005
Nice digging! I have never understood why corporations can't just stand up and make their point without resorting to anonymous fronts or phony "citizen's groups".
I think the argument would be much more compelling if a wireless company said, "the proposed cell phone tax will add X dollars to the average user's phone bill, even though the cell phone users are not using the wired telephone infrastructure; we think this is wrong because it will make wireless service more expensive and less consumers will have access to it."
That way their interest in the issue is disclosed and I can focus on how logical their argument is.
TimNE on 02 Jun 2005
>I have never understood why corporations can't just stand up and make their point without resorting to anonymous fronts or phony "citizen's groups".
One word, Politics. If you look at what has happened in the past few years on the national political scene you can understand why companies resort to these questionable practices to further their agenda:
1. Most people will never know of the connections between the site and the wireless industry.
2. Even if they do the media institutions will not report that MyWireless is a front for the cell phone industry ever time they report on the issue. The media will just state what MyWireless is saying and what their opponents are saying. This is what passes for "fair and balanced" reporting in modern America.
This is straight out of Carl Rove's "how to manipulate the public in a democracy" playbook. Think Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, or the whole John McCain Primary thing in 2000. PR professionals watch how well Rove's tactics work, and then emulate them.
Ultimatley these techniques are used because unless bungled, they work.
brett on 03 Jun 2005
Oh Jesus. Here we go with the "Karl Rove Controls My Brain" crap. What the hell does this have to do with the Swift Boat guys? Nothing. [Oh, and if he's going to be inside your head, you might as well spell his name right.]
b!x, it's called astroturfing. Very common tactic by corporations these days.
But I digress. My real point is:
> bringing the City's telecommunications taxes into line with current technology
WTF does this mean? All current technology has to be taxed? There's no rational basis for an *additional*, local tax on cell phones. We already pay 6.05 percent federal excise taxes on them. Cell phones do not use public rights of way, are not public utilities, and are already taxed. Cell phone users in Florida and New York pay over 20% total tax on their bills. Why? Cell phones do not impose any special burdens on governments of any kind. They shouldn't be taxed any differently than any other service.
panchopdx on 03 Jun 2005
I think it is about time that the City levies a Daily Newspaper Tax. We could add 15 cents to the cost of every Oregonian paper and make them an even 50 cents apiece. It would generate millions.
Then lets take all the money and just hand it over to the PDC. Perhaps it would encourage the Big O to bring a sharper pencil when evaluating future PDC proposals.
TimNE on 06 Jun 2005
>"Karl Rove Controls My Brain"
Well at least then you would have an excuse. I was thinking of giving you the benefit of the doubt here and assuming you had the intelligence not to fall for the media manipulation.
Also, you really shouldn't take the lord's name in vein.
I am sure I am wasting my time, however the point is that astroturf is a method of manipulating public opinion, which was the point of SBVFT reference. I would think that you would have the intelligence to see this, but perhaps I overestimated your comprehension.
Oh and your pot shot for a typo was really cute. You could at least use complete sentences. "Nothing." is not a sentence ;)
However, you forgot to call all taxing socialism, because, isn't that your real point? You are an ideological conservative opposed to taxes, period. You are ideologically opposed to anything you deem to be communist, socialist, terrorist or not sufficiently free market for your tastes. That is always your point, and quite frankly, your only point.
Even if the taxes were related to infrastructure (which though not regulated by the city, the airwaves are licensed by the FCC), you would still call them too high and say they are unfair and/or hurt business. This is the same tired line of crap ideological conservatives always push.
Personally, I don't like the cell phone taxing plan, but more because I don't think it's a good use of political capital.
ConservativeOregonian on 01 Aug 2005
Who cares who took the poll. Yes it would be better if My Wireless disclosed who they are, but I have yet to see a valid arguement that the results were skued. They have nothing to lose from the tax, do you think that a substantial number of people will actually give up thier cel phones because of the tax? Maybe (I know that this sounds totally unbelievable) they are concerned for thier customers.