john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (02/28/91)
AT&T NEWS BRIEFS
[All items are today's date unless otherwise noted]
Wednesday, February 27, 1991
"MCI is offering to contribute a portion of its customers' bills to
four conservation groups in an attempt to attract more residential
long-distance customers. At the customer's option, MCI will contribute
five percent of customer's monthly bills to Ducks Unlimited, National
Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation or Nature Conservancy.
... {St. Louis Post Dispatch}, 10B."
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This is not a first. Last year, a reseller of Sprint sent out a major
mailing claiming that a portion of the proceeds would go to
conservation groups. This is an interesting ploy and one our various
local, state, and Federal governments use to excess. While using
taxation to effect social change is old hat, linking unrelated private
transactions is relatively new. I say "unrelated" because no stretch
of the imagination can connect telephone usage with conservation.
My own preferance would be to get my telephone service five percent
cheaper and then donate directly to causes of my choosing. I am not
convinced that the services provided by long distance companies are
equivalent to the point that a gimmick as described above should be a
deciding factor. If only MCI would concentrate on its primary
product...
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !