Competitor access to telco fiber would fix “net neutrality”

Re:Competitor access to telco fiber would fix “net neutrality” by dfc on Saturday November 10, 2012 @04:59PM (#4767865)

"telcos have more power than oil companies." This is demonstrably false. From opensecrets:

Lobbying money by industry 1998-2012[1]

  Industry                              Total $
  ---------------------------------------------------
  Pharmaceuticals/Health Products       2,505,357,767
  Insurance                             1,774,111,357
  Electric Utilities                    1,663,072,243
  Business Associations                 1,438,954,214
  Computers/Internet                    1,359,204,389
  Oil & Gas                             1,329,100,727
  Education                             1,159,377,327
  Misc Manufacturing & Distributing     1,147,911,037
  Hospitals/Nursing Homes               1,069,574,050
  TV/Movies/Music                       1,022,160,821
  Civil Servants/Public Officials       1,014,054,831
  Securities & Investment               980,371,025
  Real Estate                           975,927,683
  Health Professionals                  941,438,165
  Air Transport                         896,844,603
  Misc Issues                           773,377,869
  Telephone Utilities                   746,207,234
  Automotive                            732,207,809
  Telecom Services & Equipment          701,829,850
  Defense Aerospace                     647,089,847

Lobbying money by industry 2012[2] (Telcos did not even make the list in 2012.

  Industry                              Total $
  -------------------------------------------------
  Pharmaceuticals/Health Products       180,048,744
  Business Associations                 121,893,383
  Insurance                             113,540,783
  Electric Utilities                    108,068,579
  Oil & Gas                             103,734,662
  Computers/Internet                    96,569,868
  TV/Movies/Music                       89,178,807
  Misc Manufacturing & Distributing     79,921,881
  Securities & Investment               74,038,412
  Hospitals/Nursing Homes               68,677,679
  Education                             67,041,930
  Air Transport                         58,666,778
  Health Professionals                  57,991,637
  Real Estate                           55,517,526
  Civil Servants/Public Officials       54,276,821
  Health Services/HMOs                  50,248,170
  Commercial Banks                      44,376,751
  Automotive                            42,835,629
  Chemical & Related Manufacturing      42,435,792
  Defense Aerospace                     42,398,654

Lobbying money by industry 2011[3]

  Industry                              Total $
  -------------------------------------------------
  Pharmaceuticals/Health Products       241,462,770
  Insurance                             159,878,505
  Oil & Gas                             149,169,677
  Electric Utilities                    145,285,040
  Computers/Internet                    126,911,432
  TV/Movies/Music                       122,898,063
  Misc Manufacturing & Distributing     118,668,254
  Education                             106,246,285
  Business Associations                 106,139,640
  Securities & Investment               101,913,226
  Hospitals/Nursing Homes               100,768,231
  Civil Servants/Public Officials       83,236,247
  Health Professionals                  81,006,752
  Air Transport                         80,773,141
  Health Services/HMOs                  74,033,507
  Real Estate                           67,178,304
  Automotive                            61,776,786
  Commercial Banks                      61,376,654
  Defense Aerospace                     59,702,900
  Telecom Services & Equipment          57,736,688

[1] https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=a&ind...

[2] https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2012&...

[3] https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2011&...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Competitor access to telco fiber would fix “net neutrality” by nitrogen on Saturday November 10, 2012 @07:03PM (#4768232)

Your list reports Computers/Internet as a separate category from Telecom Services & Equipment, and Computers/Internet beats out Oil & Gas on the 1998-2012 list. How much of Computers/Internet should be counted as Telecom?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Competitor access to telco fiber would fix “net neutrality” by dfc on Saturday November 10, 2012 @07:39PM (#4768300)

I would like to point out that it is not "my list." I do not want to mislead anyone, the data was compiled by openserets.org (hence the reference links).

With that being said it is fairly easy to check and see what companies were included in the Computers and Internet category. The list for 2012 is quite long so I do not want to paste all the entries. Here are the links for 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively:

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=B12&...

What companies do you think should be included in Telecom? How do they compare to the top 5 in Oil and Gas?

  Royal Dutch Shell $10,860,000
  Exxon Mobil       $9,870,000
  Koch Industries   $7,800,000
  Chevron Corp      $7,080,000
  BP                $6,860,000

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Competitor access to telco fiber would fix “net neutrality” by nitrogen on Saturday November 10, 2012 @08:48PM (#4768467)

Sorry, by "your" I meant "the list you quoted." Thanks for the links to the breakdowns; they succinctly answer my previous question: "very little."

[ Parent | on HN ]