Time Warner recently hosted Maine politicians at a "Winter Policy Conference" in an apparent attempt to dissuade policymakers from employing government-owned broadband service. Attendees were given steak dinners and some took advantage of overnight accomodations in hotel rooms worth hundreds of dollars a night.
From the story: “'If we want good public policy, there’s reason for all of us to be worried,' said utilities expert Gordon Weil, the state’s first Public Advocate, who represented the interests of ratepayers before regulators. Such treatment of legislators is 'obviously intended to persuade them by more than the validity of the arguments; it’s intended to persuade by the reception they’re given.'”
Read the full story by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.