The day after a hearing with FCC commissioners into Comcast's traffic-shaping practices at Harvard Law School, allegations have surfaced that Comcast paid people to show up and sit in the meeting room in order to keep people from expressing their feelings about Comcast's actions to the FCC. Save The Internet is accusing Comcast of busing in a crowd of supports to pack the room.
"These seat-warmers were paid to fill the room, a move that kept others from taking part," according to a posting on the Save The Internet blog. "They arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep."
Over 100 people were turned away from the meeting by campus police once the room reached capacity.
"First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate," said Save The Internet campaign director Timothy Karr in a statement. "The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so."
Comcast denies packing the room. "We did pay some individuals to stand in line and hold seats for Comcast employees," Comcast spokesperson Charlie Douglas told Ars. "It's a common practice in Washington, DC."
Read full story...
More...
Hybrid Mode
