60,000 protest Comcast attack on Netflix

60,000 protest Comcast attack on Netflix
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

The Huffington Post front page, the AP, and the New York Times are reporting developing details about the big news that broke last night: Comcast will essentially block Netflix unless a new fee is paid to Comcast -- so Netflix's price goes up and people use Comcast's video service instead.

This outrageous abuse of power by Comcast comes on the very week that President Obama's FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce whether he'll fulfill Obama's promise to protect the open Internet and Net Neutrality -- which would prevent this type of corporate abuse.

The FCC needs to hear from the public right now, before the chairman's big announcement this week. Within hours, over 60,000 people have signed this emergency petition from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee:

We'll deliver these signatures to the FCC this week. Sign here.

What else could Comcast do if the FCC doesn't protect Net Neutrality?

Internet providers like Comcast can drive their financial competitors (or political opponents) out of business by charging them more, for no good reason -- exactly what's happening right now.

For instance, Comcast could block or degrade iTunes, which competes with Comcast's own online music store.

Worse, the FCC will soon decide whether to allow Comcast to buy NBC! Not only would this bad actor become Keith Olbermann's boss, but can you imagine what Comcast will do to block customers from getting video from ABC, CBS, and other media outlets like the Huffington Post? This is way more serious than just movies -- the FCC's decision impacts pretty much everything.

Thanks for paying attention to this important issue.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot