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Open internet advocates stand up to Comcast

Protesters gathered outside Comcast's tower to reject the proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and call on the FCC to regulate internet service providers.

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A paper-mache Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, dwarfed protesters who stood in the shadow of the company's headquarters on Monday, Sept. 15, to reject the proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and call on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to preserve net neutrality. 

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In May, the FCC proposed controversial rules that could undermine net neutrality, or the idea that individual or independent voices should be as powerful as large companies online. The proposed rules could allow internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast or Verizon to require sites to pay for faster speeds, un-leveling the playing field.

“The future of the open internet is at stake,” Joseph Torres of Free Press said. “As a person of color [...] we own very few radio and TV stations. How do we tell our own story if we aren’t able to speak freely?”

The FCC has tried to compromise between net neutrality advocates and ISPs by allowing different rates under the condition that the costs remain transparent. The commission also ruled that no site should be discriminated against or penalized with slow speeds. Critics of the proposed rules pointed out that requiring fees for faster delivery is a way of discriminating against sites or people that cannot afford the rates.

“What would a pay-for-play system like the FCC chairman is introducing mean for communities of color, the most marginalized in our society and the media system,” Torres asked.

While the protesters targeted all ISPs and the FCC’s proposed rules, they also focused on the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, which would unite the first and second largest cable and internet providers in a country where two in three customers must choose between two or fewer providers.

“Comcast wants to expand its monopoly power over the internet by merging with its biggest competitor nationwide — Time Warner Cable — which would mean that a tremendous amount of people in this country would have no option besides Comcast for internet,” Jeff Rousset of Philadelphia’s Media Mobilizing Project said. “If the FCC really wants to support the public interest then they really need to support us having more choices, expanding internet access for people and taking the power away from big, monopoly service providers.”

The company has responded to antitrust concerns by arguing that Time Warner Cable and Comcast markets don’t overlap. Advocates maintain that the companies compete for cities, and not within them.

Comcast has also argued that it supports net neutrality and internet access, even going to far as to launch a commercial campaign to convince the public that “together is better,” for their merger. The commercials pledge support for “net neutrality protection” and “low-cost internet access,” referring to Comcast’s “Internet Essentials” initiative. The program reaches approximately 260,000 customers nationwide, but only low-income families with children are eligible. For low-income singles, couples without children, or anyone ineligible, basic internet is $40 a month, many times the rate of internet outside the United States.

“Comcast is the most influential, powerful media company in our country,” Torres said. “If the Time Warner Cable merger goes through, they’ll be just as powerful as the Bell Telephone system from the previous century.”

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