Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), like the corporate behemoth it is, is fighting multiple battles on multiple fronts. The company has sent COO Steve Burke to New York City to sort out the problems with NBC Universal and set up his new management group at the same time it's sent Executive Vice President David Cohen to Washington to keep the government out of the internet.
In a speech at Washington think tank the Brookings Institution, Cohen made a case for the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group as a way to "bring together engineers and other similar technical experts to develop a consensus on broadband network management practices."
BITAG is comprised of Comcast, AT&T (NYSE: T), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC-WI), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ)--folks who normally wouldn't be in the same room together without 12-ounce gloves. Even so, Cohen thinks this is a better solution than the "lawyers and lobbyists (who) have dominated the discussion on broadband policy."
BITAG, he aid, will "build on the proven success of the Internet as a largely self-governing, self-healing ecosystem ... with minimal direct involvement by government."
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