Dems Wants Comcast Restrictions Extended

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, want regulators to renew behavioral restrictions on Comcast that were imposed as a condition for its merger with NBC in 2011.

The Hill reports the two Democrats argued in an op-ed for Bloomberg that letting the conditions expire could lead to Comcast abusing its power to hurt competitors.

“For the majority of Americans who still get their video from pay-TV providers, and for the growing number who rely on an online video distributor, the expiration of the merger conditions brings a less competitive marketplace,” Clyburn and Blumenthal wrote.

The conditions expired last month, and some Democrats worry that now that the FCC has repealed its net neutrality rules, it will be open season for internet providers to choose what content gets priority.
Clyburn and Blumenthal want the FCC to either extend the expired rules or impose new ones that would prevent Comcast from favoring NBC content or engaging in other discriminatory practices.