The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to permanently ban Internet fast lanes, putting further pressure on the conglomerate as it tries to get its increasingly controversial purchase of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) through regulatory processes.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter to Comcast executive VP David L. Cohen Monday, urging the company to ban the practice of carving special interconnection deals with companies like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX).
"Allowing the Internet to become a two-tiered system of 'haves' and 'have-nots,' controlled by a small number of corporate gatekeepers, would destroy everything that has made it one of the greatest innovations in human history," Leahy wrote.
Leahy's letter comes as Comcast not only has its $45 million proposed purchase of TWC to worry about, but also the Federal Communications Commission's ongoing reshaping of net neutrality law. The FCC is currently under pressure to ban interconnection deals.
As a condition of Comcast's 2010 purchase of NBC Universal, the company agreed to abide by the FCC's original net neutrality rules through 2018. In his letter Monday, Leahy said the FCC rules "should be viewed as a minimum level of protection to promote competition online, and Comcast's commitment to those principles should extend well beyond the imminent cut-off date of 2018."
For more:
- read this report from The Hill
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