Comcast, Marxism, and Net neutrality: Twisted words, shameless hypocrisy
In the final weeks for filing comments to the FCC on Net neutrality, the gloves have come off and the world's turned upside down. Witness: One conservative lobbying group blasting the concept as "Marxist" and Comcast -- of all companies -- proclaiming itself the open Internet's best friend.
American Commitment, a conservative group with ties to the Koch brothers, has mounted a fearmongering email campaign aimed at killing Net neutrality. American Commitment president Phil Kerpen warns in the emails that the FCC has "drafted crushing new regulations that are the first steps in a full federal takeover of the greatest bastion of American enterprise: the Internet."
Meanwhile Comcast, in a sponsored message in Playbook emails this week, asserts that it is "the only Internet Service Provider to agree to be legally bound by full Net neutrality rules." Never mind that Comcast was required by regulators to make that agreement as a condition of its acquisition of NBC Universal -- a requirement that disappears in 2018. And never mind the millions it's spent trying to kill Net neutrality.
Comcast's eye is on a bigger prize: winning approval for its still-pending Time-Warner merger. Not so coincidentally, decreased competition in the ISP market is a huge threat to Net neutrality. If the FCC approves the Comcast-Time Warner deal, the L.A. Times writes, "Comcast will have less incentive than ever to bring its customers the fastest Internet connection at the most reasonable price. If the FCC approves Wheeler's Net neutrality proposal [for Internet fast lanes], Comcast will have more leeway than ever to squeeze content providers, and consequently the public, for more money for barely adequate service."
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http://www.infoworld.com/t/net-neutrality/comcast-marxism-and-net-neutrality-twisted-words-shameless-hypocrisy-249411
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