As we near the date when the FCC will make a decision about the XM/Sirius merger, people on both sides of the debate have stepped up their campaigns. The National Association of Broadcasters used a series of targeted pop-up ads placed on consumer websites to generate over 8,000 anti-merger e-mails to the FCC. However, XM and Sirius say that “the timing and pattern of delivery of these comments is highly unusual and suspicious”. And although they have good reason for casting negative light on the opposition to their merger, it turns out that they just might be right about this.

The Washington Post reports that they did their own investigation into sixty of the names that were on the form e-mails sent to the FCC. 50 of those calls either went unanswered or were disconnected. That alone could be attributed to the fact that people might not want to reveal their true information on e-mail forms. However, nine of the ten people that were reached by the Washington Post said that they didn’t submit such a form or even have a position on the merger. This seems to indicate that the National Association of Broadcasters may have engaged in false communications with the FCC. It’s not possible to say this for sure, though, since there are other reasons why a generic e-mail form could have turned up suspicious letters. But if that is the case, it seems odd given that there are plenty of people who actively oppose the merger.