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*M.E. Cowan, [http://failureisimpossible.com/dosomething/sod.htm "Fight Back Against Killer Astroturf,"] ''Failure Is Impossible'': provides articles dated "from 2004 or earlier" and a list of identical "letters to the editor" generated by a Republican website that were published in newspapers around the United States.
*Teresa Nielsen Hayden, [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005850.html "Common Fraud,"] ''Making Light'' Blog, December 3, 2004.
*Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/18/AR2005091801118.html "For Activist Constituents, Click Here,"] ''Washington Post'', September 19, 2005.
*Mark G. Levey, [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/28/112052/928 "A Job You Might Not Want to Apply For, Unless You're Jack Abramoff,"] ''Daily Kos'', February 28, 2006.
*Thomas Nephew, [http://pages.prodigy.net/thomasn528/blog/2006_03_05_newsarcv.html#114153532961875410 "CENTCOM pays a visit,"] ''newsrack'' Blog, March 5, 2006.
*Cynthia Brumfield, [http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/001358markey_attacks_barton_defends_telecom_legislation.php "Markey Attacks, Barton Defends, Telecom Legislation,"] ''IP Democracy'', March 30, 2006.
*Cynthia Brumfield, [http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/001580do_broadband_providers_employ_blog_comment_shills.php "Do Broadband Providers Employ Blog Comment Shills?"] ''IP Democracy'', May 21, 2006.
*Ted Shelton, [http://ipinferno.blogspot.com/2006/05/just-because-youre-paranoid.html "Just Because You're Paranoid....,"] ''IP Inferno'', May 27, 2006.
*Cog, [http://abstractfactory.blogspot.com/2006/05/anti-network-neutrality-astroturfing.html "Anti-network neutrality astroturfing comment spam,"] ''The Abstract Factory'' Blogspot, May 30, 2006.
*Bruce Stewart, [http://www.oreillynet.com/etel/blog/2006/05/astrospammers_attack_net_neutr.html "'AstroSpammers' Attack Net Neutrality,"] ''O'Reilly Emerging Telephony'' Blog, May 31, 2006.
*[http://www.cybersoc.com/2006/05/behind_netvocat.html "behind netvocates (and its link to customscoop),"] ''Cybersoc.com'', May 31, 2006.
*UncleBeal, [http://wordsnotfists.blogspot.com/2006/06/another-inconvenient-truth-netvocates.html "Another Inconvenient Truth - NetVocates,"] ''Words, Not Fists'' Blogspot, June 9, 2006.
*Teresa Nielsen Hayden, [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006420.html "More astroturf,"] ''Making Light'' Blog, June 10, 2006.
*Tyler Slack, [http://www.utahadventurevideos.com/blog/archives/2006/06/10/has-netvocates-visited-your-blog-recently/ "Has NetVocates Visited Your Blog Recently?"] ''Desultory Thoughts'', June 10, 2006.
*Peter Rost, [http://peterrost.blogspot.com/2006/06/am-i-crazy-paranoid.html "Am I Crazy Paranoid ...?"] ''Dr. Peter Rost'' Blogspot, June 12, 2006.
*DBK, [http://frogsdong.blogspot.com/2006/06/strange-days-indeed-shadowy-propoganda.html "Strange Days Indeed: Shadowy Propoganda-for-Pay Group Targeting Web Logs,"] ''Blanton's and Ashton's'' Blog, June 13, 2006.
*Amanda Marcotte, [http://pandagon.net/2006/06/13/one-more-reason-to-be-wary-of-feeding-trolls/ "One More Reason to Be Wary of Feeding Trolls,"] ''Pandagon'', June 13, 2006.
*Liberal Elite, [http://watchmesleep.blogspot.com/2006/06/im-watching-you-watching-me.html "I'm watching you watching me,"] ''Watch Me Sleep'' Blogspot, June 13, 2006.
*zuzu, [http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2006/06/14/this-explains-so-much/ "This Explains So Much,"] ''Feministe'' Blog, June 14, 2006.
*[http://deconsumption.typepad.com/deconsumption/2006/06/new_coke_and_ne.html "Of NetVocates and New Coke,"] ''deconsumption'', June 15, 2006.
*Thomas Nephew, [http://pages.prodigy.net/thomasn528/blog/2006_08_20_newsarcv.html#115573804040419389 "'Their voice. Amplified.' or Why I'm banning 151.200.70.* comments,"] ''newsrack'', August 22, 2006.
*Ann Bartow, [http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=910 "On 'Astroturfing' and Paid Shills,"] ''Feminist Law Professors'' Blog, August 27, 2006.
*Ann Bartow, [http://feministlawprofs.law.sc.edu/?p=919 "Just Because You Are Paranoid....,"] ''Feminist Law Professors'' Blog, August 29, 2006.
*Teresa Nielsen Hayden, [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007935.html#007935 "Further instances of astroturf in blogs,"] ''Making Light'' Blog, August 30, 2006.
*Teresa Nielsen Hayden, [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007947.html#007947 "Another update on astroturf,"] ''Making Light'' Blog, September 1, 2006.
no edit summary
Sometimes genuine grassroots organizations are recruited into corporate-funded campaigns. In June 2003, for example, the [[Gray Panthers]] participated in protests against [[WorldCom]] that were funded largely by the telecommunications company's competitors such as [[Verizon]]. According to the Gray Panthers, this reflected a policy decision that the organization made prior to and independently of its funding. However, an article in the ''Washington Post'' raised questions about failures to publicly disclose the corporate funding which paid for full-page advertisements that the Gray Panthers took out in several major newspapers that called on the federal government to stop doing business with WorldCom. The ads said they were paid for the Gray Panthers but did not mention that [[Issue Dynamics Inc.]] (IDI), a PR firm that specializes in "grassroots PR," had provided most of the $200,000 it cost to place the ads. Verizon spokesman [[Eric Rabe]] has declined to say how much the company is paying IDI, and Gray Panthers Executive Director Timothy Fuller has declined to say how much of the funding for its "Corporate Accountability" project comes from IDI. Notwithstanding the egregious nature of WorldCom's corporate crimes, the lack of transparency in these funding arrangements by WorldCom's corporate competitors raises the question of whether the Gray Panthers campaign should be considered genuine grassroots or astroturf.
==Blog astroturf=="[W]ell-paid and well-connected firms"—including [[NetVocates]]: "Blog Intelligence and Advocacy Service (BIAS)" [http://www.netvocates.com/] and the [[Rendon Group]]—are "orchestrating professional blog astroturf comments on weblogs", Teresa Nielsen Hayden of the ''Making Light'' Blog [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007935.html#007935 wrote] August 30, 2006. "If you want to get some idea of the resources being devoted to falsifying and suppressing legitimate public discourse, consider that paid professionals are being hired to post agenda-pushing comments on midrange blogs," Hayden [http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007935.html#007935 wrote]. ===|Blog Tracks===Based on posts left on ''newsrack'' blog, Thomas Nephew [http://pages.prodigy.net/thomasn528/blog/2006_08_20_newsarcv.html#115573804040419389 reported] August 22, 2006, that [[Democracy Data & Communications]] ([http://www.democracydata.com/ddc-clientlist.pdf DDC]) was in the astroturfing business and had been involved "''sotto voce'' [in] [[Bush administration]] P.R. campaigns for its [[Medicare]] and 'No Child Left Behind' education initiatives." In the February 28, 2006, ''Daily Kos'', Mark G. Levey [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/28/112052/928 wrote]: "Democracy Data & Communcations is a big player in the astroturf community. They host the website for the [[Grass Roots Roundtable]], and they co-chair it with the [[U.S. Chamber of Commerce]]. The board of directors is a regular Who's Who of American industry. They're a big player at the [[Public Affairs Council]], and they've earned a reputation as the place to go for astroturf campaigns." Levey first came across DDC in October 2005, "when they were putting pop-up ads against [[John Edwards]] in AOL Instant Messenger. This was for their The Truth About Trial Lawyers site for the November Fund ... a tort-reform astroturf campaign bought and paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (Yes, the government was running ads against the Democrats. ...) ... A quick google on their name brought up their site, and a May 2004 post by Mark Kleiman on a very similar campaign on behalf of No Child Left Behind." Levey next "started noodling around their DNS", which led to the discovery that DDC "owned the whole 151.200.70.* netblock" and the further discovery that DCC then owned the following domains: *151.200.70.81 voteforcontracting.com *151.200.70.81 voteforcontracting.org *151.200.70.81 voteforflorida.com *151.200.70.81 voteforflorida.org *151.200.70.81 voteforfranchising.com *151.200.70.81 voteforgeorgewbush.com *151.200.70.81 voteforphilanthropy.com *151.200.70.81 voteforsmallbusiness.com *151.200.70.81 voteforsmallbusiness.net *151.200.70.81 voteforsmallbusiness.org *151.200.70.81 voteforthemeritshop.com *151.200.70.81 voteforworkingwomen.com *151.200.70.81 votehardwood.com *151.200.70.81 votein2004.com *151.200.70.81 votein2004.org *151.200.70.81 wisconsinbusinessvotes.com *151.200.70.81 www.voteforbusiness.com To this Levey asked "is it even legal for the US Chamber of Commerce and Democracy Data & Communications to even be hosting voteforgeorgewbush.com? One has to wonder whether this service was counted toward the [[FEC]] campaign contribution limits? Well, it turns out someone was interested [http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/110105/news3.html]. B.R. McConnon, President of Democracy Data & Communcations was subpoenaed to testify before a Senate Committee probing his company's relationship with [[Jack Abramoff]]'s convicted protege, [[Michael Scanlon]]." Nephew added on August 22, 2006, that the "[http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/ptr.ch?ip=151.200.70.81 current list] for that particular block appears to be smaller now, and appears to change periodically -- or maybe the 'dnsstuff.com' utility for looking at that block only gets a random dozen or so at a time, I'm no expert on this kind of thing. "At any rate," Nephew wrote, "as of the other evening 151.200.70.81 is the IP address for [http://www.voteforbusiness.com/portal/nei/ votefornuclear.com], [http://www.voteforbusiness.com/portal/abc.asp voteforthemeritshop.com] (builders association twist on 'open shop'), [http://www.voteforbusiness.com/portal/ust.asp ustvotes.com] (UST tobacco corporation voting site) and other organizations that generally funnel interested parties towards a [http://voteforbusiness.com/ voteforbusiness.com] Chamber of Commerce mothership.** One that doesn't is the [[Social Security]] 'reform' group [http://compasscoalition.com/ compasscoalition.com] ([[Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security]]), which asserts :"'The only viable solution is to modernize Social Security. Modernization would not affect people who are currently in or near retirement. Instead, it would offer younger workers a chance to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in personal savings accounts (PSA). Modernization would be a victory for all Americans and offers many benefits, such as higher retirement payments and personal ownership of PSAs that can be passed on to heirs.' "Sure," Nephew wrote, "if you ... and Big Tobacco ... and all the rest of the wonderful folks inhabiting this IP address say so," which is what he "saw under 151.200.70.81", although "not a confident Internet sleuth, DDC still appears to own the whole 151.200.70.* IP address range. That leaves a bunch of other 4 number codes to sift through, but there's clearly a bit of a political pattern already." ===On [[net neutrality]]===Cynthia Brumfield [http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/001580do_broadband_providers_employ_blog_comment_shills.php wrote] May 21, 2006, at ''IP Democracy'' that for the past several months, she had noticed that "a group of commenters to blog posts related to network neutrality tend to say the same things over and over again" and that "a core group of the same commenters" "show up time and again saying the same things (although not always phrased the same way) repeatedly" "typically [saying] in one form or another: we don’t need network neutrality regulations because there is no evidence of abuse and in any event government intervention in the Internet marketplace will mess everything up." "Now, along comes another commenter," Brumfield wrote, called 'sagecast', who [http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/001358markey_attacks_barton_defends_telecom_legislation.php wrote] March 30, 2006, in the comments section: "this group is an organized tag-team of industry representatives, semi-sock puppets if you will, who troll the Internet making such comments to give the false impression of broad-based support of industry-friendly positions. ... By tag-teaming the blogs, this small handful of individuals gives the false impression of broad popular support for an industry-friendly position."
==Telecom astroturf==
*"[http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/06_02_03_pressrelease.html Gray Panther Ads Targeting WorldCom Funded by IDI]," Corporate Crime Reporter, June 2, 2003.
*Christopher Stern, "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14490-2003Jun19?language=printer WorldCom Opponents In Sync]," ''Washington Post'', June 19, 2003.
*[http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2477 "Lobbying: Astroturf reform dead?"] ''SpinWatch'', March 2, 2006.
*John Eggerton, "[http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6319706.html?display=Breaking%20News Groups Target 'Astroturf' Telecom Lobbies]", ''Broadcasting & Cable'', March 28, 2006.
*Claire St. John, ''[http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2006/04/27/news/248new3.txt ‘Astroturf’ legislation could work in Davis, too]'', ''Davis Enterprise'', April 27, 2006.
*[[Public Relations Institute of Australia]], "[http://www.pria.com.au/prianews/id/111 Where the grass is not greener: Astro-turfing not an import Australia wants to grow]", ''PRIA News'', July 19, 2006.
[[Category:Public relations/Astroturf]][[Category:Ethics]]
