The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“It is unfortunate that just as President Obama was reinforcing his commitment to Net Neutrality, Time Warner was publishing new Terms of Service that raises serious questions about the company’s commitment to an Internet free of discrimination.
“The new TOS carves out for Time Warner the right to use any amount of bandwidth the company chooses for its services, but puts its customers at risk if they use the Internet for services that may compete with Time Warner, such as video or telephone-like services. The new TOS also allows for ‘the prioritization of TWC commercial subscriber traffic.’
“Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission should each be concerned with how Time Warner is offering its cable modem services, and should conduct inquiries to determine the extent to which they hamper the free flow of information online and to which they are anticompetitive.
“In addition, even though Time Warner has said it would not pursue bandwidth caps on consumers, the TOS clearly leaves open that possibility, opening questions whether the company is adhering to deceptive trade practices. We hope the FTC will make inquiries along this line as well.”
The Time Warner TOS is here.
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