SB 117, Ohio's "state video franchising reform" bill is yet another business friendly scheme borrowed from Michigan.  A previous effort was the successful "buying" of (through illegally funded "issue ads") a business friendly supreme court.  This time telco giants are spending large amounts of money through their phony "astroturf" front groups to advertise and lobby to "buy" legislation favorable to their shareholders, with no regard for their obligation to provide diversity of information and service to all of the people.

SB117 would take away long standing local control of "cable franchises" to establish service standards and provide funding for public, educational and government (PEG) access channels.  Whether communities will retain public access channels will depend upon a "use it or lose it standard," rather than having it available for communities to use when they need it.  Control will now go to the state level Ohio Department of Commerce which promotes commerce not the public interest.  With no oversight these giant corporate interests will be able to redline services, and erode "Home Rule" protections of municipalities.

If everything goes as planned, it looks like we can finally get some movement on ethics...and not a moment too soon!

Last November, voters overwhelmingly voted to send legislators a message: ethics are important. Don't believe me? Take a look at the exit polls. 74% of voters said that ethics was either "very important" or "extremely important." Since voters made that statement, we've had scandals involving Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Mark Zachares, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)...and scandals involving the Justice Department, specifically the ousted attorneys who were investigating people like Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA). There are also the Bush Administration officials that either are under investigation or who resigned in disgrace. And finally, there is the lobbyist at the center of it all, Jack Abramoff!

I don't know about you, but this is all getting a little hard for me to keep track of. I'm beginning to wonder if there is anyone left in Washington who doesn't have a Common Blog smart tag with their name on it! It's time for Congress to finally get serious on ethics reform. Lobbying reform would be a great way to start...

It almost feels like spring outside here in DC today -- time for cherry blossoms, robins and fresh green leaves on trees.

But in state capitals across the country, something more insidious seems to be cropping up: telecom industry astroturf.

We've told you about this problem before.  Last year, telephone and cable companies funded a handful of front groups and astroturf (i.e. fake grassroots) organizations to try to pass a telecom bill packed with special interest benefits through Congress.  They failed.  So now they're shifting their efforts to state legislatures.

Take, for instance, the Missouri Communications Alliance, which is working to pass a video franchising bill in Missouri:

Kudos to J. Scott Christianson for writing an op-ed exposing the MCA.  We're hearing that new telecom astroturf groups are setting up shop in Illinois, Florida and other states.  If you notice them, let us know.  And more importantly, let others in your community know.

(No, this isn't about those kinds of falsies.)

The Center for Media and Democracy annually presents their "Falsies Awards" to the "most heinous polluters of the information environment over the past year." It's no surprise that this year telecom industry astroturf groups made the cut. These groups, funded by major telephone and cable companies, aggressively lobbied for laws that would change the Internet from an open and innovative medium into a closed system where only a chosen few could compete.

Common Cause is proud to have done its part to expose telecom astroturf in two reports, which you can read here and here. To see who else won "Falsies Awards" this year, go here.

Thanks, Center for Media & Democracy, for working to keep "propaganda-for-hire" in check.

All this year, we've been following the trail of telecom industry money to front groups and "Astroturf" organizations.  (Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing report.)

Now ArsTechnica and Broadband Reports have the scoop on another telecom Astroturf effort:  the American Consumer Institute.  ACI describes itself as an "independent consumer organization dedicated to improving the lives of American consumers," but it's actually a collection of "experts," many of whom have strong ties to the telecom industry.  For example, Stephen Pociask, who initially registered the ACI website, has close ties to the Bells.  You know, the telephone companies who oppose net neutrality.  And -- looky here! -- ACI also thinks net neutrality is a bad idea.

Another Astroturf group, the Advanced Technology Alliance, was also outed last week by a commenter on the Making Light blog.  So keep your eyes peeled, and let us know if you see other suspiciously-named groups that may be fronts for the phone or cable companies.

Despite the warnings that a sequel is never as good as the original (except for Godfather II, of course), Common Cause has just released Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Part II: More Telecom Industry Front Groups and Astroturf.

Our March report exposed nine organizations that looked like think tanks or grassroots groups, but that were actually controlled by telephone and cable company interests. Since that time, the telecom reform debate has kicked into high gear and a handful of new Astroturf groups were launched.

Our latest report profiles five of these organizations: Hands Off the Internet, TV4US, NetCompetition.org, The Future... Faster and Video Access Alliance. You may recognize some of these names from their extensive - and misleading - ad campaigns in recent weeks. Now you can read about all the ways they are trying to fool `we the people,' and pass the information on to concerned friends and family as well.

Let us know what you think of the report and whether you've seen any of evidence of Astroturf campaigning in your community.

The good folks over at SaveAccess.org have an excellent article today on "astroturf" groups (a.k.a. fake grassroots) that have cropped up over the telecom reform debate. (Check out Common Cause's take on telecom Astroturf from earlier this year.) In particular, they examine the claims of TV4Us, which looks and sounds like a consumer group, but is actually AT&T in disguise. It's worth a read.

One other quick update on net neutrality: As you know, the Senate Commerce Committee will begin the process of amending the Stevens telecom bill at 2pm today. We hear that more than 200 amendments were submitted, which means it's likely that the Snowe-Dorgan net neutrality amendment won't be considered until Friday. That means there's still time for you to get your calls in to Senators' offices today in support of this important amendment. Here's a list of names and phone numbers.

Our "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" report, which exposed some of the telecom industry's most insidious front groups, is getting a lot of attention in the press. The Wall Street Journal published a major article about the study last week and it was featured on other media outlets such as the radio & TV program Democracy Now and in the San Antonio Express News.

Telecom industry Astroturf is continuing to crop up all over the country. Many of you let us know about TV4Us, a new front group being financed by AT&T. On Thursday, a brand new group calling itself the Video Access Alliance (VAA) testified before the House Telecommunications Subcommittee. Interestingly, the group has the same mailing address as NetCommunications, a corporate public relations firm. (click on these links to see for yourself: Video Access Alliance's address listed on the House Commerce Committee's website, and NetCommunications' address on its Contact Us page). Under questioning from Rep. Ed Markey, VAA Chair Julia Johnson admitted that the consulting firm that pays her salary receives compensation from the telephone companies. [Thank you to the eagle-eyed Michael Eisenmenger at Manhattan Neighborhood Network for the scoop.]

Have you heard of any other suspicious groups? Seen any telecom ads in your newspaper or on local TV? Let us know about it.