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Dozens Rally Outside Comcast Over Proposed Merger and Net Neutrality

By Kim Glovas

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- About a hundred people rallied this afternoon outside the Comcast Tower, in center city Philadelphia, to protest the proposed merger of Comcast with Time-Warner Cable and to speak in favor of the concept of "net neutrality."

The FCC is receiving comment on those issues until midnight tonight.

The rally was organized by FreePress.net, a Philadelphia-based group fighting for net neutrality -- the view that Internet service providers should not be allowed to charge some content providers more than others for distributing their material.

 

net neut sign _glova
(Photo by Kim Glovas)

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Chris Rabb (wearing tan blazer in top photo), a professor at Temple University's Fox School of Business, told the crowd the Internet should not be controlled by anyone or any thing.

"It is our smartphones, it is Black Twitter, it is NetRoots, it is all of us," he said.  "It does not belong to one man, one person, one corporation, to one industry.  It is ours."

Genevieve Gavin sees any control of the Internet as a blow to innovation.

"It will really take away opportunities for young people," she said, "and I think we should give it to them and let them surprise us."

A spokesperson for Comcast released the following statement:

"Comcast supports an open Internet and network neutrality. We are the only Internet service provider in America legally bound by full Net Neutrality rules. We support reasonable and workable rules to ensure the Internet remains the amazing success it has been and continues to grow. We don't have fast lanes or any plans to have them and we don't interfere with our customers' ability to access lawful content online."

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