last neutrality protections have not yet been overturn , but it seems that ISPs are already assume their sheep costume off to reveal the wolves beneath . In a move that will make everyone say , “ of course they did , ” it seems that Comcast deleted its assurance to protect the open internet the day after the FCC foretell its design to down the unresolved internet this spring .
You might recall theembarrassingand all told strange PR campaigns that Comcast and Verizon started run a workweek after FCC Chair Ajit Paiannouncedhis contrive to terminate net disinterest protections in April . “ Likeable ” and “ normal ” people like “ Jeremy ” help explicate to the public that big telecoms lie with treating all dealings on the web with the same priority , they just do n’t desire that to be the law . Why not ? Did we mention that Jeremy has glass and a nice checker shirt , and that he seems courteous ? discontinue ask questions .
But thanks to a astute find fromArs Technica , we bed that Comcast was already changing its promises at that time . The telecommunication has had apageon its corporate site since at leastAugust of 2014that explicate its stead on net neutrality . Up until April 26th of this year , the command say things like “ Comcast wo n’t lug access to lawful content , ” and “ Comcast wo n’t restrain back the speed at which subject arrive to you ” ( emphasis ours ) . Beginning onApril 27th , the pledge in effect ceased being a pledge , and is more of a statement on the way thing are at the moment .
The previous lines assert that Comcast “ wo n’t ” do the bad things have now been alter to : “ We do not block , slow down down or single out against lawful depicted object . ” It ’s in all likelihood just a coincidence that April 26th was the same day Paikicked offthe appendage of dismantling the open internet . By the room , a line from the argument that antecedently study “ An Open cyberspace with memory access for all . That ’s what we ’re for , ” has also been deleted .
Another worrisome change is the removal of the line “ Comcast does n’t prioritize Internet traffic or make bear flying lanes ” from the statement . Now , the company no longer discusses paid fast lanes on the varlet at all . But in a recent comment onTwitter , the company did write that it wo n’t pursue in “ anticompetitive yield prioritization . ” On Tuesday , a representative for Comcast toldCNETthat it “ has n’t put down into any pay up prioritization agreements , ” and “ we have no plans to do so . ” But enounce that you have no plans to do something and saying that you wo n’t do something are quite dissimilar .
Last , but not least , the company ’s current lieu is that its “ for sustainable and de jure enforceable net neutrality protections for our customers . ” So , if the FCC follows through with repealing last disinterest onDecember 14th , that phrasal idiom will be nonmeaningful .
And Comcast is n’t discontinue with its efforts to convert the public that it support net disinterest . In the name of revealing , MSNBC hostRachel Maddowrecently read this command when reporting on the upcoming FCC changes : “ Now is the part where I should assure you that MSNBC is owned by Comcast which has an interest in this fight . They say they affirm net neutrality but they ’d like to get free of the regulations that presently ensure it . ” So , yeah , if you ’re a Comcast customer , you might desire to prepare yourself for the up - charge if you want to confab Fox News .
We ’ve sent multiple requests to Comcast to ask about the strange timing of the change to its net neutrality pledge , as well as to expect if it will put to all of the assurances that it had previously give to customers . So far , we have n’t welcome a reply . Will anything they tell us ultimately count in the little fucking bite ? Nope . In the remainder , Comcast will deform every last dime out of you that it ’s lawfully allowed to and whatever makes that potential is what they ’ll “ support . ”
Update 11/30/17 : A Comcast representative sent us the following financial statement :
“ Our dedication have stay that same as they ’ve been since the FCC first adopted the Open net regulation we supported in 2010 , that we wo n’t bar , that we wo n’t throttle , that we wo n’t discriminate against lawful cognitive content . We ’ve sound out consistently we ’ve not entered into pay up prioritization agreements and have no plan to do so . No matter what the skeptics say , you ca n’t accurately convert an unequivocal command that Comcast has no program to enter into any paid prioritization arrangement into plans for paid prioritization . ”
[ Ars Technica ]
ComcastNet neutralityOpen InternetWebsite
Daily Newsletter
Get the good tech , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the time to come , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
