Comcast accused of trying to censor anti-Comcast site
Comcast accused of trying to censor anti-Comcast site
The cable giant accuses pro-net neutrality site
Comcastroturf of trademark infringement.
Internet
by Steven Musil May 23, 2017 7:02 PM PDT
A digital rights advocacy group says it was threatened by
Comcast lawyers after launching a website that is organizing an investigation
into allegedly fake anti-net neutrality comments submitted to the FCC.
Fight for the Future, which operates Comcastroturf.com,
accused the cable giant of censorship on Tuesday after receiving a cease and
desist letter that said the group was infringing on its trademark. The letter,
sent by LookingGlass Cyber Security Center, demanded the Comcastroturf domain
name be reassigned to Comcast because it violates the law by using a domain
name that is "identical or confusingly similar to someone else's
trademark.
"Our client, however, is prepared to resolve this
matter amicably and without pursuing its claims for damages, but only if you
immediately comply with its demands," the letter said.
Fight for the Future, a pro-net neutrality group, calls
the claims "baseless" and says the site name is a form of First
Amendment-protected political speech. It goes on to claim that the letter aims
to stifle its efforts to expose questionable anti-net neutrality comments that
flooded the FCC.
"If companies like Comcast are funding this type of
illegal activity, their customers and the general public deserve to know about
it," Evan Greer, Fight for the Future's campaign director, said in a
statement. "If they're not funding it, they should condemn these fake
comments and tell the FCC to disregard them."
Comcast didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment but told Ars Technica it had decided not to pursue the claim any
further. It also said that it began sending its cease and desist letters on May
17, three days after Comcastroturf.com was registered and before the site had
published any content.
Fight for the Future didn't immediately respond to a
request for further comment.
Net neutrality is the principle that all traffic on the
internet should be treated equally, regardless of whether you're checking
Facebook, posting pictures to Instagram or streaming movies from Netflix or
Amazon. Under a new proposal, the FCC would throw out the legal underpinnings
of the net neutrality order, which reclassified broadband as a so-called Title
II utility service under the Communications Act.
"Comcast supports strong, legally enforceable net
neutrality rules and does not and will not block websites or content. Title II
does not equal net neutrality," Comcast said.
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