Broadband Politics - Latest Comments in FCC Hearing Agenda

Re: FCC Hearing Agenda

Richard Bennett — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:56:49 -0000

I was really surprised at how loud the applause was when Cohen finished speaking, so they clearly did pack the hall. But the hall was first-come, first-served and open to all with no management or quotas, so what do you expect?

It was a pretty funny way to make a point, actually.

Re: FCC Hearing Agenda

dontbugme — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:03:03 -0000

By the way, what do you think of the claims that Comcast packed the hall? Did you get the impression that this really happened? They might well have been justified, since the FCC and Vuze packed the agenda, but to many folks out there it still comes across as a shady tactic.

Re: FCC Hearing Agenda

Richard Bennett — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:08:43 -0000

Well it is being held in the Moot Courtroom, so maybe that means something. I expect that Weitzner, Reed, and Klinker will be hard on Comcast, but Clark and Smyers will take the other side. Clark's an interesting guy because he's done real work on QoS for ten years or more. Smyers will probably emphasize the role of management in rooting out pirates, Weitzner will be clueless and Reed will be totally bonkers. I believe the chairman has a fairly open mind but the others have already taken their sides.

Re: FCC Hearing Agenda

dontbugme — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:03:28 -0000

It is amazing that this "kangaroo court" is being held at a law school, because they have clearly stacked the deck. One side -- Vuze and Free Press -- gets to do a "technology demonstration" (in other words, a biased sales pitch) and gets twice as many voices on every panel. The other side -- the ISPs who are being exploited by Vuze -- gets much less time to speak its piece and no demo time. Who set up this one-sided forum?