AT&T Under Fire For "Faking" Net Neutrality Opposition

October 20, 2009 6:11 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - One of the nation's largest telecommunications company has come under fire for encouraging its employees to protest net neutrality regulations being considered by the Federal Communications Commission.

The recommendation by AT&T's top lobbyist comes just days ahead of a Thursday meeting of the commission at which rules will be proposed regarding an "open Internet."

Jim Cicconi on Sunday issued a memo to the company's 300,000 employees asking them to "join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet."

"Those who seek to impose extreme regulations on the network are flooding the site to influence the FCC. It's now time for you to voice your opinion," Cicconi wrote.

The memo suggests that workers use "a personal e-mail account" to e-mail their comments to www.openinternet.gov and offers five talking points for possible inclusion.

By not using their company e-mail accounts, a pro-neutrality organization accused AT&T of asking employees to "fake it."

"Coming from one of the company's most senior executives, it's hard to imagine AT&T employees thinking the memo was merely a suggestion," wrote Tim Karr of SaveTheInternet.com.

Karr questioned the truthfulness of the AT&T talking points.

"For example: Cicconi suggests that employees write that Net Neutrality will 'jeopardize efforts to deliver high-speed Internet services to every American,'" Karr said. "Yet he's unable to provide any rationale for this claim, other than saying that universal access is a goal that 'can't be met with rules that halt private investment in broadband infrastructure.'"

In the memo, Cicconi charges that adoption of net-neutrality regulations would "drive up consumer prices, and burden companies like ours while exempting companies like Google."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is an advocate of an open Internet that would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking applications and content, particularly those of competitors.

Executives from Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter and other Internet-based companies have all expressed support of net neutrality. However, 76 Congressmen wrote a letter to Genachowski last month saying that neutrality could endanger corporate investment in the Internet.