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Comcast PAID PEOPLE to cheer at FCC net neutrality hearing

savetheinternet.com — Think Comcast's BitTorrent blocking is bad? At an FCC hearing at Harvard yesterday, Comcast secretly paid people to fill up seats and cheer for them. Too bad there's a photo!! Even reporters got blocked out of the event because it was too full. When no one agrees with you, all you can do is open your wallet. Unbelievable.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 27, 2008

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  • Corvidae, on 02/27/2008, -5/+296It's not like a congressional hearing, but it's still pretty slimy to pull crap like this on the public.
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -6/+246***** COMCAST!

    and while we're at it ***** THE RIAA!
  • xOKxWhy, on 02/27/2008, -6/+219***** Comcast
  • laurasmith76, on 02/27/2008, -4/+206Portfolio confirmed this rumor. They got someone from Comcast to actually admit it! http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/0 ...
  • VaporBro, on 02/27/2008, -6/+184I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!
  • str3ama, on 02/27/2008, -5/+89Expect more of this, they're trying not only to make the impression that public opinion is on their side - but also fill up such hearings and meetings so that protestors and critics can't enter the buildings. They're basically flooding the rooms to keep people out because they have a maximum occupancy limit (in case of fire emergency) - that way its all their people or people who won't object, and the opposition is kept out and left out with the ability to raise the more important points. Ingenious of them, and also very underhanded.
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -0/+70Bribery - it's Comcastic!
  • dizilbdog, on 02/27/2008, -1/+71Comcast you are lower than Low, and you are shaming our country and the ability to make our country great in telecommunications. Shame on you piece of ***** company...
  • unearth, on 02/27/2008, -13/+74Comcast PAID PEOPLE to sit at FCC net neutrality hearing

    There, fixed. Still pretty outrageous, but there we no mentions of cheering.
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -8/+59Anyone know how much they pay? And where to get an application?
  • AndrewDB, on 02/27/2008, -0/+36That number won't do *****.

    Call this: 1 (215) 665-1700, it's Comcast's Corporate Offices in Philadelphia.
  • boyghost, on 02/27/2008, -1/+37Anyone else get a "Error establishing connection to database" error?

    Oh wait, I have Comcast...
  • herichon, on 02/27/2008, -0/+36Thank you, Comcast.

    Here's the thing - these guys from the FCC aren't a bunch of internet geeks like we are. Arguments about Sandvine, Bittorrent, the differences between blocking and throttling, what it actually means to insert arbitrary RST packets into an active TCP connection stream - look, they may be smart guys, but a lot of this stuff is just over their heads.

    So at the end of the day, assuming they're not totally in Comcast's pocket, they may have to take a step back and ask themselves a question about Comcast. Specifically: is Comcast the kind of company that would engage in unethical practices to benefit themselves and to prevent people from using public channels of communication in the way that they were designed and intended to be used?

    You just answered that question for them, Comcast. Thanks again!

  • cartman005, on 02/27/2008, -1/+33It's really a shame for people who live in areas with Comcast because its not like a restaurant where if you don't like it, you don't have to eat there. People need the internet and often, their only options are Comcast or dial-up.
  • tlo182, on 02/27/2008, -0/+32I think the ***** part of this is that people actually accepted it and don't understand what they're inadvertently supporting.
  • ConfirmedCynic, on 02/27/2008, -0/+31The problem is a lack of checks and balances.

    Companies that pull this sort of stunt should get their wrists smacked hard, with executives being prosecuted.
  • monkeyvoodoo, on 02/27/2008, -1/+30This is why corporations should NOT be given the same rights as people.
  • boodog, on 02/27/2008, -5/+30Those guys were field techs - we all know how much they like to sleep!
  • ferrell, on 02/27/2008, -5/+26Tell them what you think of this *****!

    1-800-COMCAST

  • jnadke, on 02/27/2008, -2/+22"Other[s] APPLAUDED ENTHUSIASTICALLY when Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen delivered key points in his presentation."

    There, fixed. Try clicking the link around "[Update: Comcast admits to paying people to stack the room in their favor. Read the report.]"
    http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/0 ...
  • feoren, on 02/27/2008, -1/+21Yup, it was a pretty Comcastic thing to do.
  • oenoneablaze, on 02/27/2008, -0/+19why are you so stupid?
    the internet has been a necessity for years now, just like mobile phones--just because things worked without them in the past doesn't mean that the past system is equal to our present system. our economy has grown quite a bit as a direct result of the communication and commerce that the Internet allows.
  • daGUY, on 02/27/2008, -0/+18Wow, this is unbelievable. The rep from Comcast claims that they just paid people to hold seats for their "local employees" to take later. *****! The room was already full an hour and a half before it started. If their own employees want to go so badly, then they can get there on time themselves. Better yet, if Comcast actually cares about having their employees attend, they can, oh I don't know, arrange for transportation.

    I'd like to think it's just coincidence that this article loads really *really* slowly from my Comcast Internet connection...
  • qwertydvorak, on 02/27/2008, -1/+19everyone needs to email this story to the fcc.
    http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/mail.html
  • eclectro, on 02/27/2008, -0/+18Harvard peeps?? How can you let this happen on your hallowed ground?? You have a corporate prostitute whoring on your own corner.
  • Abennobashi, on 02/27/2008, -1/+18i think you're missing the bigger picture of what he was implying.
  • skoles, on 02/27/2008, -0/+16That's great that they used their own customers money to pay random people to support a cause that will, in the end, hurt their customers.

    I need to convince my roommate he needs to switch to FiOS.
  • Seann7656, on 02/27/2008, -0/+16Tomorrow I cancel my Comcast Subsription.

    Hello Verizon FiOs
  • crunchyeyeball, on 02/27/2008, -0/+15...and I suppose if a group of your friends decided to start screaming and running out of a building, it's only idiots who would think entering the building was a bad idea?
  • adml_shake, on 02/27/2008, -1/+16You can't tell me your surprised by this.
  • Gabberwok, on 02/27/2008, -7/+22All the more reason to enact net neutrality...
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -0/+14I don't think either number will do *****.

    They don't care about people as long as they still pay for the service... So, you can see where I'm going with this.
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -8/+21Yet some of you send them a check every month without complaining...oh wait, your parents handle all that.
  • apc3161, on 02/27/2008, -1/+13So who is still keeping their comcast subscription?
  • Jambi, on 02/27/2008, -3/+14And if those tactics don't work and they can't bribe enough people, they'll just someone in a key position (gay Republican, Democrat who's been taking money from an oil company) to blackma...errr, "win over through the obvious logic of their argument".
  • darkphenox, on 02/27/2008, -3/+13it would prevent government regulation.
  • SirMolle, on 02/27/2008, -2/+12A;ll of us need to send this to EVERY Newspaper, News Studio, radio station, Tv Etc Etc you can!
    Spread the word about the lies!

  • rowjimmy, on 02/27/2008, -0/+10yeah, because "free market" policies always work in the best interest of the public, huh? believing that access to information should be free and fair is just ignorant and selfish.
    oh right, but i'm just "too ignorant" to understand how this is a good idea... enjoy your necro-threesome with reagan & milton friedman.
  • Bosiljevac, on 02/27/2008, -0/+9My comcast cable internet died a few months ago, and my roommate calls them to complain.
    Operator: "What seems to be the problem, sir?"
    Roommate: "It's not very Comcastic right now."
  • Innova69, on 02/27/2008, -0/+9Done!
  • rokinroj, on 02/27/2008, -2/+11please do explain?
  • rokinroj, on 02/27/2008, -4/+13can we throw a "***** WALMART" in there too? It'd be my second of the day.
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -1/+10*make note that it is assumed every post made by a sane user unconditionally has the additional purpose of taunting the RIAA.
  • nevesis, on 02/27/2008, -0/+8Send your comments to the FCC: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi

    Proceeding: 07-52
  • Paradoxymoron, on 02/27/2008, -1/+9The point is that the government is regulating the would-be regulators, not the net itself
  • inactive, on 02/27/2008, -0/+8***** you for being able to have Fios and not taking advantage of it.
  • Amric, on 02/27/2008, -0/+8You are?

    I'm not amazed in the slightest that they pull a stunt like this... I am a bit more amazed that they seem to admit to doing it thought.
  • Railz, on 02/27/2008, -1/+9Why wouldn't monopolies do that if no one was stopping them? Monopolies aren't there to serve us. Free markets only serve the consumer to better their business, not for the greater good.
  • ufee, on 02/27/2008, -1/+9Instinct shouldn't mandate applauding suppression. In that case, it should take a back seat to logic.
  • noself, on 02/27/2008, -0/+8Net neutrality is a must. We paid for the goddamn internet when the pentagon created it as ARPANET. Our tax dollars, our public medium of communication. The corporations have got this one ass backwards. Just because they came onto the scene in the form of ISP's doesn't mean we don't own this. The government cannot and should not sell our public service tool to the highest bidder.
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