Spectrum of Greed

As you surf the web looking for information on what is going on and why the US economy and our technological supremacy are eroding in front of our eyes, be aware that all is not as it seems.  From a big picture blog post defining Agnotology:

Stanford historian of Science Robert Proctor stated, “People always assume that if someone doesn’t know something, it’s because they haven’t paid attention or haven’t yet figured it out,” Proctor says. “But ignorance also comes from people literally suppressing truth—or drowning it out—or trying to make it so confusing that people stop caring about what’s true and what’s not.”  (emphasis added).-

Case in point:  today a press release was made by Connected Nation, a non-profit Washington organization.  The release was to highlight that shortly after Congressional passage of the Broadband Data Improvement Act and funding for the act was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, that several prominent companies and organizations were either recruited or sought out CN to partner with them.  Several prominent IT companies were in the list.  The press release goes on to quote Brian Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, “Together, we are working to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to realize the promise of technology, and we are proud to bring together a broad coalition that is working together to generate meaningful results.”  Who can argue with such a broad, positive statement?  Heck, it sounds very motherhood and apple pie - on the surface.  But let’s dig a little….

Art Brodsky, of Public Knowledge, shed light on what had crawled out from under a rock in Kentucky in this post.  In it, he alleges that Connect Kentucky was the start of Connected Nation, and Connect Kentucky, “was cooked up by Republican staffers for then-Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) and representatives from BellSouth.”

In another searing post by Fiona Morgan,  she identifies the issues that have come to light since Connect Kentucky had it’s way in the land of cotton, then got bigger ambitions for our nations capital.

“Officials in Kentucky, where Connected Nation formed, have filed complaints with the FCC about the group, saying it makes claims and provides data that are “misleading” and “untrue.”"

She then goes on to provide some very damning evidence that this organization is a front for the telecom industry - a wolf in sheeps clothing, which she pulled from another Art post:

It’s board of directors includes several heavy hitters from the telco industry:

• James W. Cicconi: AT&T senior executive vice president, external and legislative affairs
• Steve Largent: CTIA, The Wireless Association president and CEO
• Joseph W. Waz: Comcast senior vice president, external affairs and public policy counsel
• Thomas J. Tauke: Verizon executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communication
• Walter B. McCormick: United States Telecom Association president
• Kyle E. McSlarrow: National Cable and Telecommunications Association president
• Grant Seiffert: Telecommunications Industry Association president (The members are the equipment makers who sell their gear to the telecom industry.)

Besides Kentucky, other states such as South Carolina are also questioning the validity and objectives of Connected Nation.

The CTIA (The wireless association) is also a part of the disinformation campaign that defines our current wireless & broadband markets.  In their latest efforts, a study they paid for makes the case that the wireless industry is injecting billions of dollars of wealth into our economy, reassuring all who have anything to do with the current regulatory environment that preserves the status quo that they are doing the right thing.

So in information as in all else, Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware.