# WARNING TO ALL USERS



## Guest (Mar 5, 2002)

* WARNING - WARNING - WARNING*

_ DO NOT USE DISH NETWORKS WEBSITE (www.echostarmerger.com)TO WRITE CONGRESS OR THE FCC_

As a webmaster myself, I know how these forms work, any thing you type in these forms will be seen and captured by Dish Network, there is no guarantee that what you write will be forwarded to your congressman or the FCC.

Dish could actually use this website to squash a lot of negative comments from getting to their intended parties.

* No matter if you support the merger, or you think the merger should not be allowed the BEST way to make your voice heard is by sending your opinions directly to the party of whom you are trying to reach!*

One must ask themselves why is Echostar trying to aggregate this data.

Thank you.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2002)

I agree with writing Congress and the FCC directly, but think about something... Most folks would have only found out about the web site by watching the Charlie Chat, which would mean that most of that group are E* subscribers, which means that E* already has your information.

In general, you are correct about putting "private" data into a web form, but I think your tone here is a little paranoid.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2002)

I think your missing the point, it has nothing to do with your private information, such as your name and address, it has to do with the messages you are "trying" to send to the FCC of CONGRESS.

Who is to say that Dish is not collecting this data to use the data for its own gain, and whos to say that your message will or will not be sent to Congress of the FCC. It is quite possible that messages of a negative nature about Echostar never reach who you intended to send them too.

Also since Echostar knows what everyone is writing they can take the negatives and use them to create a positive spin. For example if someone writes to the FCC saying that the merger should not goo through because of concerns about "broadband" access, Dish could make note of how many people say the same thing, if there are a lot of folks with the same message the Dish PR department could put out a statement of something to the effect of "The merger helps broadband because...." Thus trying to squish fires before they get too large.

Basicly if you fill out the form on Echostars website, you are hlping them find area they forgot to think about in regards to the merger.

If you have comments you want to make to congress or the FCC you should by all means make them, but dont send them to Echostar in hopes that your thoughts are correctly forwarded, instead send them directly to the party for who you intend to contact.


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2002)

I did see your point.. if I opposed the merger, E* would be the last forum I would use to tell anyone about it. if I support the merger, then no harm done.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2002)

Ah, come on Scott. Do you think Uncle Charlie would have some kind of ulterior motive by pushing his web form?

Ok, sarcasm aside, I agree with you 100%. Charlie wants this merger bad and I wouldn't put it past him to curb info or stifle negative comments about it.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2002)

I went ahead and visited the site. One warning though: The site loads very very very slowly. It took almost 5 minutes for the page to get done loading on my PC.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2002)

Hi, 
I used the that site and changed a form letter to oppose the merger. I figered what the heck, can't hurt.

Anyway, today I received all of these automated response messages from my senators, congressmen, and the FCC. So yea, write what you want and use the site to send it. It isn't censored. Yet.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2002)

I should add that they included copies of my message.


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