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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Smorodin
August 1, 2008
(202) 289-8928
   
PFF's Esbin on FCC Finding That Comcast Violated Network Neutrality Principles
Legally and Procedurally Suspect and Misguided as a Matter of Policy

WASHINGTON D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to find that Comcast violated federal policy by interfering with certain Internet traffic. Barbara Esbin, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Communications and Competition Policy at The Progress & Freedom Foundation, had the following comments:

"It is perplexing - and therefore worrisome - that a government agency has intervened in a technical dispute involving appropriate management of Internet traffic when the dispute was settled and the companies involved have pledged to work collaboratively in the future. Worse, the agency has done so following what can only be characterized as a Kafkaesque process, unprecedented in administrative law and unfaithful to Constitutional Due Process. Whether specific management techniques are appropriate should be decided by technical experts and marketplace interactions, not political appointees responding to interest group pressure."

Esbin is available for further comment. Please contact Amy Smorodin at asmorodin@pff.org or 202-289-8928.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.

 

 

The Progress & Freedom Foundation