For the past year, Comcast has been working to sell lawmakers and regulators on its proposed merger with NBC Universal, a $30 billion deal that would create a media colossus, which critics warn invites the possibility of all manner of consumer harms.
Rep. Henry Waxman, the outgoing chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is a skeptic. Though he stops short of opposing the merger outright, he is asking the Federal Communications Commission, one of two agencies reviewing the deal, to condition any approval with net neutrality rules that would prevent the combined company from discriminating against rival video content on its broadband network. Rep. Ed Markey made similar calls this week. Datamation has the story.
Two prominent House Democrats are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to impose conditions to preserve affordable broadband service and fair access to online content on any approval of the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal.
Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Tuesday asking him to impose what would amount to net neutrality rules barring the combined entity from giving its own online video content favorable delivery over competitors.