Comcast to face ruling from FCC
The FCC is coming down on cable provider Comcast for allegedly blocking content from a competitor. Janet Babin reports some consumer groups expect the FCC annoucement to be a historic message to policymakers and Wall Street.
Comcast logo (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: The government is expected to punish the cable provider Comcast today. The FCC has rules about the openness of the Internet and says Comcast has been blocking content. Janet Babin reports from our Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio.
Janet Babin: The Internet's supposed to be a neutral network -- that is, nobody can block or slow down what you want to see, or keep you from sharing online files. But the Associated Press found that Comcast blocked customers from using a competing video download service. Consumer groups were outraged and filed a complaint.
Josh Silver is executive director of Free Press, a non-partisan group that promotes independent media ownership. He calls the expected FCC announcement historic.
Josh Silver: Today's decision is going to send a clear message to both policymakers, industry and Wall Street that blocking Internet content is not acceptable.
Comcast denies the charges. It says it only slows file delivery to manage traffic congestion. That way, it can prevent network slowness and video dropouts. Comcast says it may appeal the FCC's ruling.
I'm Janet Babin for Marketplace.
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