Comcast Center, 1701 JFK Blvd., 3:46 PM Tuesday BY RAY SKWIRE
RELATED: DEAR COMCAST, Why Can’t I Watch The Flyers?
RELATED: Free speech online has come under withering attack from the astroturf lobby — corporate front groups that are determined to hand control 
of the Internet to companies like AT&T and Comcast. They’ve joined the forces of the Tea Party with pro-corporate attack groups like Americans for Prosperity to urge weak members of Congress to betray the public interest by voting to strip the Federal Communications Commission of its ability to protect our basic freedom to access an open Internet. And betray us is exactly what House representatives did earlier this month, passing a “Resolution of Disapproval” (H.J. Res. 37), which is designed to let phone and cable companies block any speech they don’t like, charge users anything they can get away with, and hold innovation hostage to their profit margins. The aim of the front groups supporting this industry agenda is to stoke partisan rancor and fear over a principle called Net Neutrality — a basic rule that keeps service providers from deciding what content we get to see and share via digital networks. A favorite line of theirs is to portray Net Neutrality as part of a Marxist conspiracy, dismissing the vast coalition of people of every political stripe who believe that an open Internet is a basic requirement of a healthy, modern democracy. MORE