Like An Animal: Comcast Vs. Humanity
There are some conveniences in life we just can’t seem to do without these days. Coffee vendors on every corner, a bus no more than 20 minutes away, readily available and easily downloadable videos and television shows. These are the things that set our modern society apart from the savagery of animals. Without these comforts humans may well begin eating our young. It could happen.
Cable/Internet/Phone-dominating, soul-crushing Comcast is turning us into animals. Apart from its insistence on taking over the world one enormous cable bill at a time, Comcast has recently been accused of putting blocks on online video delivery systems. Here’s what happened: Level 3 Communications, which recently partnered with Netflix, claims Comcast is charging a new fee for users wishing to stream videos or TV shows online. Explains a New York Times article, “Comcast [has] effectively erected a tollbooth that 'threatens the open Internet.'"
This obviously puts Internet video companies like Netflix at a huge disadvantage. It also threatens Net Neutrality, a term used to describe an Internet free of interference from Internet service providers like Comcast. Without regulation (as it currently stands), Comcast could legally charge additional fees or block Netflix or other video distribution companies. It could also control the streaming speeds of various videos based on its own partnerships. Interestingly, Comcast’s impending acquisition of NBC-Universal is getting nearer and nearer, providing the cable company with an increasing financial interest in having NBC’s “30 Rock” stream faster than, say, Fox’s “Glee.”
Luckily, people are outraged. Petitions are flying, articles are educating and loads of people are approaching the FCC for stricter regulations about this issue. There are no rules about this right now, but it is on the FCC’s agenda for December. We encourage you to read up, sign the petition and stop Comcast from stealing from us what actually makes us human: our freedom to unrestricted information.
