Copps: Comcast-NBCU promises do not ‘pass the test’

“I cannot, I will not, accept
half-hearted pledges of fairness from industry when the future of the Web is at
stake,” he said. “And right now, the assurances and conditions we have received
on this Comcast-NBCU proposal do not pass the red-face test.”

Copps spelled out a scenario
in which network providers have inappropriate power over the content that
consumers access, a particular concern now that the country’s largest Internet
service provider is acquiring a major content company.

“Broadband and the Internet
must not become the province of gatekeepers and toll booth collectors,” he
said. 

The merger is under review at the Justice Department and the
FCC.