T-Mobile's John Legere Goes Off The Deep End: 'Who The Fuck Are You, EFF?'
I kinda feel bad for the PR people at T-Mobile. This morning, CEO John Legere put out a completely bullshit statement pretending to respond to the accusations that its BingeOn program is throttling online video. It didn't address the actual issues, made statements that were clearly false, and then accused people questioning the program of being "jerks." That seemed weird, considering the widespread concerns about all of this combined with T-Mobile's attempt to brand itself as the only consumer friendly mobile service provider.
But, if you really wanted to undermine the idea that you're a "consumer-first" operation that "cares about the open internet" and had to pick one group that you shouldn't go off on an unhinged rant about, you'd probably pick EFF. The group, which has been around forever, is somewhat famous for its willingness to fight for the public's digital rights, and unwillingness to compromise its beliefs. It has regularly sued or challenged numerous big companies that have undermined privacy and the open internet, including AT&T and Google.
And yet... in responding to a question from EFF online about its BingeOn throttling, Legere decided to go on a weird, nonsensical anti-EFF rant:
I've emailed T-Mobile's PR people to find out if Legere really doesn't know what EFF is, or if he really thinks that EFF is somehow a front group for a company attacking T-Mobile. I doubt I'll hear much of a response. But if Legere wanted to totally undermine his pro-consumer position in a single sentence, I don't think he could have picked a much worse one than what he actually came out with.
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But, if you really wanted to undermine the idea that you're a "consumer-first" operation that "cares about the open internet" and had to pick one group that you shouldn't go off on an unhinged rant about, you'd probably pick EFF. The group, which has been around forever, is somewhat famous for its willingness to fight for the public's digital rights, and unwillingness to compromise its beliefs. It has regularly sued or challenged numerous big companies that have undermined privacy and the open internet, including AT&T and Google.
And yet... in responding to a question from EFF online about its BingeOn throttling, Legere decided to go on a weird, nonsensical anti-EFF rant:
After giving a misleading response to the actual question, talking about "selecting the bitrate" (which is throttling not optimization), he then gives a little smile and says:.@EFF pic.twitter.com/pv6V4oOJwS
- John Legere (@JohnLegere) January 7, 2016
Part B of my answer is: Who the fuck are you anyway EFF? Why are you stirring up so much trouble and who pays you?This has immediately resulted in widespread mocking across Twitter, with many people tweeting to Legere that they fund EFF and they care a lot more about EFF than T-Mobile:
@JohnLegere /I/ pay @EFF. And I pay T-Mobile. Take care: /one/ of those two things could change really quickly, and it isn't the EFF one.
- H. Poteat (@NSQE) January 7, 2016
.@johnlegere I (along with many other members) pay @eff.
- Asher Langton (@AsherLangton) January 7, 2016
Since @JohnLegere asked, #IPayTheEFF. @EFF
- matt blaze (@mattblaze) January 7, 2016
I may have to drop my T-Mobile service after this brash response to @eff by @johnlegere pic.twitter.com/z7nBuh7sMU
- Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) January 7, 2016
.@JohnLegere Who pays for @EFF to keep watch on shady anti-net neutrality moves like this? People who know the net. pic.twitter.com/525NKCkRuO
- Kris Slevens (@cpqNetworks) January 7, 2016
@JohnLegere I'm a T-Mobile customer. I pay for @EFF #WeAreEFF
- Benjamin Eckel (@bhelx) January 7, 2016
There are a lot more where those came from, and they keep pouring in..@JohnLegere @EFF I pay them. I also pay T-Mobile. If I have to choose between the two, I'll keep paying the EFF and switch from T-Mobile.
- Curious Gene XIII (@curiousgene) January 7, 2016
I've emailed T-Mobile's PR people to find out if Legere really doesn't know what EFF is, or if he really thinks that EFF is somehow a front group for a company attacking T-Mobile. I doubt I'll hear much of a response. But if Legere wanted to totally undermine his pro-consumer position in a single sentence, I don't think he could have picked a much worse one than what he actually came out with.
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