Comcast packs net neutrality hearing with paid stooges

Comcast bused in thirty or forty paid seat warmers for an FCC hearing on network neutrality at Harvard University, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Network neutrality is the doctrine that network owners (such as Comcast and AT&T) cannot discriminate against any content in favor of other content—such as content they own or have been paid to carry.

An official at Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy group that has criticized Comcast for limiting the amount of data some of its customers send over its network, accused the cable company of "stacking the deck" at the hearing with the 30 to 40 "seat-warmers." An official at Harvard said dozens of real participants were left standing outside the auditorium with placards.

"They were taking seats away from other citizens who had a right to be there," said Catherine Bracy, administrative manager for the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at the Harvard Law School. "It was a PR thing. [Comcast] wanted more people in the room who were sympathetic."

The FCC is considering holding another hearing at Stanford.