Comcast FCC Hearing: En Banc Hearing of the Federal Communications Commission on Broadband Network Management Practices

Ames Courtroom, Harvard Law School, February 25, 2007
Full video recording (RealPlayer format)
Full audio recording (RealPlayer format)
Statements of FCC Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate, and McDowell

On February 25, Harvard Law School and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society hosted an unusual en banc hearing of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") at Harvard Law School. FCC held the hearing in response to a Petition for Rulemaking filed by Vuze, Inc., a peer-to-peer video distribution company, objecting to the network management practices of Comcast Corp., a large U.S. Internet service provider. JOLT Digest's Debbie Rosenbaum recently covered Comcast's filing in response to the Vuze petition.

The Ames Courtroom reached capacity well before the hearing began, and multiple JOLT Digest staff members were unable to gain access to the hearing. Other media outlets and commentators have, however, extensively reported on the proceedings. A selection of news articles and commentary follows.

Chris Kanaracus of IDG News Service reported extensively on the hearing.
Stephen Labaton of the New York Times and Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post reported on the hearing.
Mark Jewell of the AP reported on accusations that Comcast paid unaffiliated individuals to arrive early, occupy seats in the Ames Courtroom, and applaud after Comcast-friendly testimony.
Matthew Lasar of Ars Technica reports on the hearing from a technical perspective.
The Berkman Center has a roundup of additional links.
Richard Koman of Sci-Tech Today evaluated the testimony of Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen.
Josh Stearns of Save the Internet and Sam Gustin of Conde Nast Portfolio commented on the "astroturfing" allegations.
Finally, Boston entrepreneur Christopher Herot offered detailed commentary on all portions of the proceedings.