Legere vs EFF: It’s On

T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere has spent much of the day defending the carrier's controversial "Binge On" program, and he didn't hold much back when answering his critics. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has criticized T-Mobile for throttling video streams down to 480p, asked him on Twitter whether T-Mobile is altering the video streams or just limiting their bandwidth.

Legere responded in a video: “What Binge On does, it includes a proprietary technology and what the technology does is not only detect the video stream but select the appropriate bit rate to optimize to the video, the mobile device. That’s part A of my answer. 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?” EFF Activism Director Rainey Reitman responded, pointing out that it is "an advocacy organization fighting for civil liberties in the digital world," supported by donations from tens of thousands of people.

Legere backed off a bit after his initial response, tweeting that he's not waging a "personal campaign against @EFF." "Let me be clear- I know who the @EFF is," he added. "I’m sure they do a lot of great things for a lot of consumers, but innovation can be controversial!"