NY Politician's Letter Supporting Comcast/Time Warner Cable Either Written By Comcast Or Plagiarized From Comcast
from the or,-i'm-sure-it-could-just-be-a-big-coincidence...-right? dept
It's no secret that politicians will often... er... "repurpose" legislation and talking points handed to them by companies. In some cases, they're even willing to admit who really wrote things. But, more generally, they at least try to hide it. However, sometimes they don't try very hard. NY State Assembly Leader Joe Morelle recently decided to send a letter expressing his support for the merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Fair enough. But the folks over at Stop The Cap noted that much of the letter appeared to be word for word identical to Comcast's David Cohen's Congressional testimony and Comcast press releases. This leaves a few possible explanations:- Comcast wrote the letter.
- Joseph Morelle (or some poor intern he has) is a really bad plagiarist, who happens to only use Comcast's own material as source material.
- It's all a big coincidence. Only so many words out there, right?
N.Y. State Assembly Leader Joe Morelle: “The combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable will create a world-class communications, media and technology company to help meet the increasing consumer demand for advanced digital services on multiple devices in homes, workplaces and on-the-go.”Yeah, I'm sure it's all just a completely random coincidence...
David Cohen, executive vice-president, Comcast: “The combination of Comcast and TWC will create a world-class communications, media, and technology company to help meet the insatiable consumer demand for advanced digital services on multiple devices in homes, workplaces, and on-the-go.”Joe Morelle: “Comcast has a proven record of investing in new technologies, facilities and customer support to provide the best in broadband Internet access, video and digital voice services.”
David Cohen: “Comcast has a proven record of investing in new technologies, facilities, and customer support to provide the best in broadband Internet access, video, and digital voice services.”Joe Morelle: “Similarly, TWC has made significant strides in offering a diverse array of video, broadband, and voice services to its customers.”
David Cohen: “Similarly, TWC has made significant strides in offering a diverse array of video, broadband, and voice services to its customers.”Joe Morelle: “Combining the two companies’ complementary strengths will accelerate the deployment of next-generation broadband Internet, video and voice services across the new company’s footprint.”
David Cohen: “Combining the two companies’ complementary strengths will accelerate the deployment of next-generation broadband Internet, video, and voice services across the new company’s footprint.”Joe Morelle: “Residential customers will benefit from technological innovations including a superior video experience, higher broadband speeds and the fastest in-home Wi-Fi, while also generating significant cost savings and other efficiencies.”
Comcast Press Release: “Through this merger, more American consumers will benefit from technological innovations, including a superior video experience, higher broadband speeds, and the fastest in-home Wi-Fi. The transaction also will generate significant cost savings and other efficiencies.”Joe Morelle: “In just two-and-a-half years, over 350,000 families, representing approximately 1.4 million low-income consumers, have been connected to the Internet thanks to this program. This proposed merger would extend this vital program to many more low-income households in New York by providing access to it in certain areas of the state currently only served by Time Warner.
David Cohen: “In just two and a half years, over 300,000 families, representing some 1.2 million low-income consumers, have been connected to the transformative power of the Internet thanks to this program. The transaction will extend this vital program to millions more Americans in the areas currently served by TWC.”
Filed Under: david cohen, joe morelle, lobbying, merger, new york, plagiarism, talking points
Companies: comcast, time warner cable
