On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:15:04 -0800, Forbes Mercy wrote > So I was a bit curious as to who this Center for Public Integrity > (CPI) was and who funded them and what their intent was. I looked > them up and gave the guy a call that is in charge of the lawsuit for > CPI against the FCC. We had a long chat and he referred me to their > website and what they are trying to do: http://www.publicintegrity.org/telecom/ > > Basically, according to the director of this project, they are > trying to mirror the other media provider information by providing a > list by zip code of who gives service in an area. We discussed how > inaccurate the list is for say cable where my town supposedly has > five cable providers when in fact we have two and only one by the > zip code I searched. I then asked if that is all the information > they want from the FCC Form 477. He said "Yes all we really want is > the provider name". So I asked why his FOI and lawsuit states ALL > data provided in the Form 477. I explained that our competition > already has enough of an advantage but if they had their hands on > the number of customers, their speeds, etc. by zip code they would > know where to spend money to go after us specifically. Essentially > telling our competition everything about us without even the tease > of an offer to by protected by an non disclosure agreement (NDA). I > think even Telco and Cable agree with us on this potential which is > why they have joined with the FCC opposing the full disclosure request. > > His answer (CPI) was that they don't expect to get the whole > database and in the end will likely compromise for just the names. > I told him I have no problem giving my name or having the FCC do > that but why ask for everything, I said, "it demonstrates intent to > disclose so much more" that could damage us. He said he knows that > but it was their decision to start there and work back to what they > want. I explained how when you negotiate you don't ask for, let's > say buying a car, for $2000 off when you only want $500 off. By > doing so the salesman, in this case the FCC, has no motivation to > work with you because you made an unreasonable request. Why not > just file the Freedom of Information (FOI) request for just the > provider names? He said, "it's nice to hear a grass roots provider > view but we felt this was the best bargaining method". He made > clear they are not funded by a Corporation and are certainly not > trying to help anyone but consumers. > > I see one of two motivations for this: 1) They are being pushed by > their attorney to go too far which sounds about right for a lawyer > who knows he/they will get a lot more money for drawing out > negotiations when he could just make a reasonable request or, 2) CPI > feels they will get more donors and media attention by being able to > make the claim they are trying to protect the public in a big media > splash saying we just want their names while really asking for the > whole cake. They are a DC organization so you can never really > trust their intent. > > Forbes Mercy > President - Washington Broadband, Inc. > www.wabroadband.com >
I tried emailing them, but they don't respond to emails that say "I don't like what you're trying to do, why are you doing this?" It's harder to turn away a phone call, I guess. Did you suggest to any of them that they ask US for information or try negotiating with trade groups for info? Mark -- WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
