Internet – Trillium Asset Management

Wireless Network Neutrality – Verizon (2013)

November 26, 2012

Whereas, Wireless communications are critical to Verizon. In 2011 wireless constituted almost two-thirds of total revenue, with wireless data revenue growing 21 percent on an annual basis. A critical factor in this growth has been the open (non-discriminatory) architecture of the Internet. Non-discrimination principles are commonly referred to as “network neutrality” and seek to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment for all content. We believe open Internet policies help drive the economy, encourage innovation and reward investors. Network neutrality principles may help Verizon financially by bringing new products to its platform, attracting customers and creating opportunities to share revenue with developers. …

Privacy and Data Security – Apple, Inc. (2013)

September 18, 2012

Whereas, Digital technologies and online communications have created extraordinary business opportunities for Apple; they may also present serious risks to privacy and data security. Breaches of privacy and data security are a constant threat which can result from either company negligence or external attacks. Cyber attacks on U.S. computer networks rose 17-fold from 2009 to 2011, according to the U.S. National Security Agency, with many companies not even realizing they were attacked. Privacy breaches have also grown dramatically in recent years. According to a 2011 Ponemon Institute study, the per capita cost of a data breach was $194, with an …

Network Neutrality On Wireless Networks – Verizon (2012)

January 11, 2012

WHEREAS: The open (non-discriminatory) architecture of the Internet is critical to the prosperity of our economy and society. Non-discrimination principles are commonly referred to as “network neutrality” and seek to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment for all content. As President Obama and Federal Communication Commission Chairman Genachowski have pointed out, an open Internet plays a pivotal role in solving critical national problems such as healthcare, education, energy, and public safety and is necessary “to preserve the freedom and openness that have allowed the Internet to become a transformative and powerful platform for speech and expression.” Network neutrality rules are …

Verizon – Free and Open Internet (2010)

February 4, 2010

WHEREAS The Internet has become a defining infrastructure of our economy and society; Internet Service Providers like Verizon forge rules that shape, enable and limit Internet use. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Genachowski recently noted that a free and open Internet is an “unprecedented platform for speech, democratic engagement, and a culture that prizes creative new ways of approaching old problems.” A free and open Internet, he said, demands Americans’ attention because the Internet must play a critical role in solving the “great challenges [we face] as a nation right now, including health care, education, energy, and public safety.” He …

AT&T – Free and Open Internet (2010)

February 4, 2010

WHEREAS The Internet has become a defining infrastructure of our economy and society; Internet Service Providers like AT&T forge rules that shape, enable and limit Internet use. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Genachowski recently noted that a free and open Internet is an “unprecedented platform for speech, democratic engagement, and a culture that prizes creative new ways of approaching old problems.” A free and open Internet, he said, demands Americans’ attention because the Internet must play a critical role in solving the “great challenges [we face] as a nation right now, including health care, education, energy, and public safety.” He …

The (R)evolution Will Be Computerized: Web 2.0 Technologies Will Make “Shareholder Democracy” a Reality

August 21, 2009

Just as doctors at dinner parties hear about fellow guests’ medical dilemmas, people tend to confess to me that they throw out their shareholder proxy ballots. They’re too jargon-filled and arcane, and who’s got the time to evaluate whether the auditor is a good choice or whether a shareholder resolution is as preposterous and costly as management says it is? Besides, they only own 50 shares of the company. Estimates range widely, but all agree that the vast majority of individual investors regularly toss their ballots into the circular file. Economists call this “rational apathy,” but while it may be …

Open MIC Announces Significant Shareholder Votes on Internet Privacy and Freedom of Speech

May 13, 2009

Investors in two major U.S. Internet Service Providers – CenturyTel, Inc. and EarthLink, Inc. – voted in substantial numbers in favor of a first-time shareholder resolution that highlighted the importance of Internet management practices and their impact on Internet privacy and freedom of expression. The resolutions, which were filed and voted on for the first time this year, attracted 30.49% of the vote at CenturyTel and 9.25% at EarthLink. Taken together, the votes mean that investors controlling stock worth more than $900 million voted in favor of the resolutions at the two companies. “This is the kind of vote that …

RiskMetrics calls Open MIC Internet Project "biggest new campaign in the human rights arena for the 2009 U.S. proxy season."

April 7, 2009

Risk Metrics Group (RMG), the nation’s largest and most influential proxy advisory firm, provides research to some of the world’s largest and most important financial institutions about the environmental and social issues shareholders raise in proxy statements. It’s guidance to large pension funds often determines the fate of shareholder proposals filed by Trillium Asset Management and our fellow shareholder activists. We were, therefore, very pleased when RMG recently wrote a lengthy piece on the Open MIC shareholder initiative describing it as the “biggest new campaign in the human rights arena for the 2009 U.S. proxy season.” The story discusses the …

Verizon – Internet Censorship (2009)

February 25, 2009

WHEREAS The Internet is becoming the defining infrastructure of our economy and society in the 21st century. Its potential to open markets for commerce, venues for cultural expression and modalities of civic engagement is without historic parallel. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are gatekeepers to this infrastructure: providing access, managing traffic, insuring communication, and forging rules that shape, enable and limit the public’s Internet use. As such, ISPs have a weighty responsibility in devising network management practices. ISPs must give far-ranging thought to how these practices serve to promote–or inhibit–the public’s participation in the economy and in civil society. Of fundamental …

Comcast – Free & Open Internet (2009)

February 12, 2009

WHEREAS The Internet is becoming the defining infrastructure of our economy and society in the 21st century. Its potential to open new markets for commerce, new venues for cultural expression and new modalities of civic engagement is without historic parallel. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) serve as gatekeepers to this infrastructure: providing access, managing traffic, insuring communication, and forging rules that shape, enable and limit the public’s use of the Internet. As such, ISPs have a weighty responsibility in devising network management practices. ISPs must give far-ranging thought to how these practices serve to promote–or inhibit–the public’s participation in the economy …