<div dir="ltr">I agree with the points about AstroTurf, though 'well done' is questionable given the number of people in the study who are listed as being funded that weren't.</div><span id="draft-break"></span><br/><br/>-<br>Sent from VMware Boxer<span id="draft-break"></span><br/><br/><div><div class="null" dir="auto">On 14 July 2017 at 00:19:40 GMT+2, Dave Burstein <daveb@dslprime.com> wrote:<br class="null"></div><blockquote type="cite" style="border-left-style:solid;border-width:1px;margin-left:0px;padding-left:10px;" class="null"><div class="null" dir="auto"><div class="null"><div class="null"><div dir="ltr" class="null"><div nop="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif" class="null">The data is excellent, "Astroturf" is not. It's a very well done study with enough detail I'm going to report something like "Google spending millions to buy influence in DC & Europe." IT's also a convenient list of papers on key topics, some of which I missed. It's important to know who is funding what and to doublecheck with unbiased sources.</div><div nop="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif" class="null"><br class="null"></div><div nop="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif" class="null">But the Astroturf assertion is offbase. I know about two-thirds of the authors, the vast bulk of whom are legitimate scholars and similar. I'd retain the title "Astroturf" for people and organizations whose primary work is promoting the policies of the companies paying them. Astroturf is a plague in D.C. Some are organizations created by pr agencies; others are "consulting firms; some call themselves "think tanks."  While some of them do good work, most of it should be ignored. Reporters never should use any of their work without strong confirmation.</div><div nop="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif" class="null"><br class="null"></div><div nop="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif" class="null">Dave</div></div><div nop="gmail_extra" class="null"><br class="null"><div nop="gmail_quote" class="null">On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 5:41 PM, Nick Ashton-Hart <span dir="ltr" class="null"><<a href="mailto:nashton@consensus.pro" target="_blank" class="null">nashton@consensus.pro</a>></span> wrote:<br class="null"><div class="null" ref="44506"><div id="bx-quote-44506" class="null"><span class="null"></span></div></div><blockquote nop="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex" class="null"><div style="word-wrap:break-word" class="null">The CFA is also not as transparent as it urges everyone else to be, it has refused to say who funds it in the past, has no details of who funds it on its website, either - though Oracle confirmed at one point it was one of its funders.<div class="null"><div nop="h5" class="null"><div class="null"><br class="null"></div><div class="null"><div class="null"><br class="null"><div class="null"><blockquote type="cite" class="null"><div class="null"><div class="null">On 13 Jul 2017, at 20:08, Jeremy Malcolm <<a href="mailto:jmalcolm@eff.org" target="_blank" class="null">jmalcolm@eff.org</a>> wrote:</div><br nop="m_-5610248888240875531Apple-interchange-newline" class="null"><div class="null">
   
     
   
  <div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="null">
    But here's an article putting the other side of the story:<br class="null">
    <br class="null">
    <a nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.chronicle.com/article/Scholars-Cry-Foul-at-Their/240635" target="_blank" class="null">http://www.chronicle.com/<wbr class="null">article/Scholars-Cry-Foul-at-<wbr class="null">Their/240635</a><br class="null">
    <br class="null">
    We place Google Policy Fellows at EFF, too.  Does that mean that
    whatever work they do for the rest of their careers is tainted by
    the few thousand they received to support their living expenses as
    an EFF fellow?<br class="null">
    <br class="null">
    <div nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-cite-prefix" class="null">On 13/7/17 3:21 am, parminder wrote:<br class="null">
    </div><blockquote type="cite" class="null"><div class="null"><blockquote class="null"><blockquote class="null"><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null">Google has spent
            millions funding academic research in the US and<span nop="m_-5610248888240875531Apple-converted-space" class="null"> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/europe-news" nop="m_-5610248888240875531u-underline" style="color:rgb(0,86,137);text-decoration:none;border-bottom-width:0.0625rem;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(220,220,220);background:transparent" target="_blank" class="null">Europe</a><span nop="m_-5610248888240875531Apple-converted-space" class="null"> </span>to try to influence
            public opinion and policymakers, a watchdog has claimed.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null">Over the last
            decade, Google has funded research papers that appear to
            support the technology company’s business interests and
            defend against regulatory challenges such as antitrust and
            anti-piracy, the US-based Campaign for Accountability (CfA)
            said<span nop="m_-5610248888240875531Apple-converted-space" class="null"> </span><a href="https://campaignforaccountability.org/new-report-reveals-googles-extensive-financial-support-for-academia/" nop="m_-5610248888240875531u-underline" style="color:rgb(0,86,137);text-decoration:none;border-bottom-width:0.0625rem;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(220,220,220);background:transparent" target="_blank" class="null">in a report</a>.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null"><span class="null">“Google uses its immense wealth and
              power to attempt to influence policymakers at every
              level,” said Daniel Stevens, CfA executive director. </span><span class="null"><br class="null">
            </span></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null">................
            <br class="null">
          </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null"><span class="null">Academics were directly funded by
              Google in more than half of the cases and in the rest of
              the cases funded indirectly by groups or institutions
              supported by Google, the CfA said. Authors, who were paid
              between $5,000 and $400,000 (£3,900-£310,000) by Google,
              did not disclose the source of their funding in 66% of all
              cases, and in 26% of those cases directly funded by
              Google, according to the report.</span></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null"><span class="null">...........</span></p>
          <span class="null">“Whenever
            Google’s bad behaviour is exposed, it invariably points the
            finger at someone else,” said Stevens. “Instead of
            deflecting blame, Google should address its record of
            academic astroturfing, which puts it in the same league as
            big oil and </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/tobacco-a-deadly-business" nop="m_-5610248888240875531u-underline" target="_blank" class="null">big tobacco</a><span class="null">.”</span><br class="null">
        </blockquote><span id="bx-quote-end-44506" class="null"></span>
      </blockquote><div style="margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" class="null"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'Guardian Text Egyptian Web',Georgia,serif;font-size:inherit;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24px;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;float:none;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);display:inline" class="null"></span><br nop="m_-5610248888240875531webkit-block-placeholder" class="null"></div><p class="null"><font face="Verdana" class="null"><a nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/13/google-millions-academic-research-influence-opinion" target="_blank" class="null">https://www.theguardian.com/<wbr class="null">technology/2017/jul/13/google-<wbr class="null">millions-academic-research-<wbr class="null">influence-opinion</a></font></p><p class="null"><font face="Verdana" class="null">As we know Google has recently been fined
          $ 2.7 billion for anti-competitive practices by the EU
          regulator, which only means that in all countries that are too
          weak to take on google (or benefit from its profits, meaning
          the US) Google remains in violation of competition (and many
          other) laws..... All this Google funded research and advocacy,
          of dont regulate the Internet (read, Internet companies), are
          playing a dangerous game, seriously compromising public
          interest. <br class="null">
        </font></p><p class="null"><font face="Verdana" class="null">It is time we declare the honeymoon of
          civil society and academic love for digital global
          corporations over. They are today like big oil companies -- no
          doubt the latter provide what is still the main energy
          resource that keeps our societies ticking but in the bargain
          they very often, and systemically, indulge in stuff that needs
          academics and NGOs to be watching against. It is pretty
          difficult to undertake such watching while taking considerable
          money from them. It is a simple truism, but the digital sector
          tends to ignore it.</font></p><p class="null"><font face="Verdana" class="null">parminder <br class="null">
        </font></p><p class="null"><br class="null">
      </p>
      <br class="null">
      <fieldset nop="m_-5610248888240875531mimeAttachmentHeader" class="null"></fieldset>
      <br class="null">
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    </div></blockquote><br class="null">
    <pre nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-signature" cols="72" class="null">--  
Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Global Policy Analyst
Electronic Frontier Foundation
<a nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eff.org/" target="_blank" class="null">https://eff.org</a>
<a nop="m_-5610248888240875531moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jmalcolm@eff.org" target="_blank" class="null">jmalcolm@eff.org</a>

Tel: <a href="tel:(415)%20436-9333" value="+14154369333" target="_blank" class="null">415.436.9333 ext 161</a>

:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::

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