Press Release
Comcast Declares War on Consumers
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission today, Comcast tried to justify its continued blocking of Internet traffic. Late last year, the Associated Press exposed the nation's largest cable company for cutting off access to legal file-sharing programs. In response to a complaint filed by Free Press and members of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, the FCC has launched an official inquiry.
Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and author of the complaint, issued the following statement:
"Comcast is making a desperate attempt to spin its Internet blocking. Cut through all the jargon, and this much is clear: Comcast isn't managing bandwidth hogs, it's undercutting competition.
"Comcast could manage bandwidth without discrimination -- like other Internet service providers do. What Comcast is really doing is specifically squashing new innovative Internet video services that compete with their own online and video-on-demand offerings -- and threaten to topple its tightly controlled cable model. Comcast is looking at a future where consumers can access millions of channels online without the cable company's permission, and doesn't like it.
"Comcast vowed to never block content or interfere with the open Internet. Now that it has been caught red-handed doing just that, its lawyers argue that the FCC has no authority to stop them. This is nothing short of a declaration of war on the FCC, Congress and consumers.
"If Comcast succeeds with this ruse, the future of the Internet will be controlled by network owners. And instead of the open Internet, we'll have a bunch of walled gardens -- a chilling move that no consumer wants.
"The FCC needs to draw a line in the sand. It's time to stand up for consumers and show that Comcast can't get away with breaking the rules."
Read Free Press comments: http://www.freepress.net/docs/fpcomcastcommentsfeb1308.pdf
Listen to Marvin Ammori and web innovators BitTorrent, Vuze and Miro discuss Comcast blocking: http://www.freepress.net/docs/freepress_open_internet_call.mp3
Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and author of the complaint, issued the following statement:
"Comcast is making a desperate attempt to spin its Internet blocking. Cut through all the jargon, and this much is clear: Comcast isn't managing bandwidth hogs, it's undercutting competition.
"Comcast could manage bandwidth without discrimination -- like other Internet service providers do. What Comcast is really doing is specifically squashing new innovative Internet video services that compete with their own online and video-on-demand offerings -- and threaten to topple its tightly controlled cable model. Comcast is looking at a future where consumers can access millions of channels online without the cable company's permission, and doesn't like it.
"Comcast vowed to never block content or interfere with the open Internet. Now that it has been caught red-handed doing just that, its lawyers argue that the FCC has no authority to stop them. This is nothing short of a declaration of war on the FCC, Congress and consumers.
"If Comcast succeeds with this ruse, the future of the Internet will be controlled by network owners. And instead of the open Internet, we'll have a bunch of walled gardens -- a chilling move that no consumer wants.
"The FCC needs to draw a line in the sand. It's time to stand up for consumers and show that Comcast can't get away with breaking the rules."
Read Free Press comments: http://www.freepress.net/docs/fpcomcastcommentsfeb1308.pdf
Listen to Marvin Ammori and web innovators BitTorrent, Vuze and Miro discuss Comcast blocking: http://www.freepress.net/docs/freepress_open_internet_call.mp3
