FCC may do-over Comcast Net Neutrality hearing due to presence of paid Comcastards:
Yesterday on Boing Boing, we shared first-hand reports from the guys at Miro that Comcast hired goons to fill seats and cheer at an FCC hearing over net neutrality at Harvard. Today, Jordan at Valleywag points us to this update:
The FCC is considering holding a fresh hearing on net neutrality, with Comcast and Verizon again in attendance — and this time it may be at Stanford. The do-over after a mini-scandal erupted over the first hearing, held at Harvard; Comcast flacks confessed they’d paid people off the street to act as seatwarmers. Let this be a lesson to you all: If you’re going to meddle in politics, do it skillfully enough not to get caught.
The Harvard hearing, a rare outside-the-Beltway event, ended disastrously for all involved. The hearing had many more attendees than were expected, with the room running out of space well before the hearing began. As a result, dozens of members of the public and opposition groups were refused entry. Comcast’s ruse was detected when some of its fresh hires fell asleep.
Read the rest here. Image: Comcast’s yellow-highlighter-wearing goons snoozing off during the hearing (photo: Dean Jansen. The term “comcastards” is TM, 2008, Brian Lam).
