With the network neutrality circus back in town, the use of bogus grass roots groups (aka "astroturf") is again on the upswing as corporations lobby Uncle Sam to prevent network neutrality legislation. Such misleadingly named groups (grandmothers for network justice?) are used by corporations in every sector to give the illusion of broad consumer support for ideas that are anti-consumer. In telecom, that means supporting metered billing (it's patriotic!) higher prices (it's good for you!) and fewer consumer protections (all government regulation kills puppies, fellow patriot).

Free Press, one of the few consumer advocacy groups these days that actually represents consumers without taking corporate cash, this week took aim at astroturf, highlighting how many additional consumers could be wired for the amount of money spent on misleading lobbying. The group went a little further by creating a handy interactive graphic on the subject.

Comcast's annual lobbying budget jumped from $570,000 in 2001 to $12.5 million in 2008, while cable lobbying group the NCTA doubled its lobbying budget to $14.4 million during the same period. Verizon's lobbying rose to $18 million in 2008 from $8.2 million in 2001, while AT&T's annual budget fattened to $15.1 million in 2008 from $6.1 million.

But direct lobbying budgets are only a very small part of it. Those numbers don't include the hiring of smear merchants, the creation of artificial consumer advocacy groups, or the use of legitimate disability and minority groups, who parrot whatever company positions they're told to in exchange for a nice new events center. Collectively, this creates the illusion of broad support for laws or policies that a public majority would never actually support. Like oh, broadband caps as low as 1GB with per gig overages that require second mortgages.

"The fake grassroots groups are spending major resources to deceive the public and promote agendas of the corporations that sign their paychecks," said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press. "We need transparency, accountability and honest debate. The crucial policy decisions being made right now about the future of the Internet must be based on independent research, reliable data and facts. The phone and cable companies must stop distorting the issues and hiding behind their astroturf groups, sock puppets and hired shills."

Sure, ok -- but nobody ever seems to have a real solution to this problem. I've been complaining about these groups for a decade but they only seem to get worse (see the current health care "debate" as exhibit A). Corporate "personhood" gives the companies involved the right to free speech, but should there be restrictions forcing companies to only speak as themselves? Artificial consumer groups and other forms of disinformation are the worst sort of propaganda -- but outside of consumer education (or napalm) what exactly is the solution?