|
 | |
 |
Post Your Pain |
 |
Post Your Problem |
 |
Laughing All the Way |
|
Hall of Shame |
|
History Lesson |
|
Help is Here! |
|
Success Stories |
|
Public Statement |
|
Contact Us |
|
Home |
|
Update
2/24/01
A. Latest on
Lawsuits
As many of you know, there are
currently three, distinct class action suits against Verizon (two
originating in New York, the third in The District of Columbia) for the
poor service that Verizon has rendered regarding it's DSL. The first
test was in New York where Verizon attempted to have the case thrown out
due to stipulations in the company's disclaimer. Verizon was
unsuccessful then, however the court will rule on the appeal within the
next week. Remember, by virtue of being a customer, you will
automatically be included in the two of the three suits that have been
filed.
B. E-mail
Outage
In what may be considered
Verizon's most embarrassing moment, almost 50,000 Verizon customers who
receive their service through the bellatlantic.net have lost service for
days as a result of Verizon failing to renew ownership of the domain name
bellatlantic.net. Although Verizon claimed the problem would be
addressed by "late evening" last night, it is still an ongoing
issue.
C. Consumer's
Voice
An absolutely fantastic website
for information on all the bells is http://www.consumersvoice.org/ This
site makes filing a complaint to your local congressman or state
representative as easy as can be. This site is extremely proactive
in involving people in the process. PLEASE pay a visit there if
you wish to become more involved in being heard!
D. Break up
Plan
The best case scenario for
consumers to win this war would be if Verizon were forced to split into
separate, competitive entities. Such a situation would seem unlikely
due to the recent merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic to become Verizon,
however a proposal is currently being weighed in Pennsylvania to do just
that. This proposal has picked up enough steam to actually cause
Maryland and New Jersey to follow suit. This is a situation to watch
closely, as it would represent the ideal solution for the problems that
have plagued this company.
E. DSL Summit
Meeting
A few weeks ago there was an
important meeting in New York City to try and improve the quality of the
broadband industry. You will find all of the details
below:
1) The DSL Summit Meeting Was Packed.
Despite the snow storm, our DSL "Summit" meeting in New York on
Feb. 5th was a great success. An edited audio version is up ---- Speakers
included Bob Ponce, Silicon Alley Station, Amy Rutkin, Congressman
Jerrold Nadler's Chief of Staff, Nick Braak of DSLReports.com,
Andrew Brust, Vice Chair of the NY Software Industry Association, Jason L.
Solotaroff, Stamell & Schager, LLP, Joe Plotkin, Director of
Marketing/DSL Bway.net, and Bruce Kushnick, New Networks Institute. To
listen to the event, go to http://www.siliconalley.net
Or read the Village Voice article about the event at: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0107/russo.shtml
2) "The Broadband Bill of Rights" is
Officially Released. A copy (and annotated version) can be
found at our site. This document sets out statements of law and
policy that we believe are crucial if customers (and competitors) are
ever going to receive adequate DSL and Broadband services--- without all
the current hassles. We are calling for these rights to be affirmed
by state and federal legislators and regulators, with the hope that
they be implemented immediately.
To read the Broadband Bill of Rights, go to http://www.newnetworks.com/broadbandbill.htm
3) Become a Co-signer--- and get others to sign on.
Hundreds of people (and companies) have become 'co-signers' of
the Broadband Bill of Rights and we need your help. Without your support
and the support of others, we believe that the situation of DSL and
broadband will not be fixed---- it will most likely get worse. So take the
time and sign on. There's no other obligations.
To become a co-signer go to: http://newnetworks.com/alliance/signatures.php
To read comments of other co-signers, go to: http://www.newnetworks.com/alliance/signatures.php?view=1 4) We are planning out next event, so stay
tuned. If you or your company/organization would like to get more
involved in fixing the problems with DSL and broadband contact us
at:
thanks,
Bruce Kushnick,
Executive Director, New Networks Institute
212-777-5418
|
