Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pressed Comcast on its...

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pressed Comcast on its net neutrality obligations, in a letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Wednesday. “I am concerned that Comcast’s proposed acquisition of TWC is a threat to net neutrality and the open Internet,” Franken wrote (http://1.usa.gov/1kttEsm). “If Comcast were permitted to acquire TWC, it would make the nation’s biggest ISP even bigger, raising a serious risk that Comcast could act as a gatekeeper of Internet traffic on its networks. The existence of ‘full net neutrality rules’ is absolutely necessary, though likely not sufficient, to mitigate that risk.” Franken asked whether Comcast would abide by existing anti-blocking and anti-discrimination net neutrality requirements, first levied on Comcast as an obligation of acquiring NBCUniversal, beyond the January 2018 time set in that acquisition condition. Franken wants to know whether the cable company will maintain those protections “regardless of whether the FCC has implemented new and binding industry-wide net neutrality rules at that time,” he said. Comcast has defended its commitment to the net neutrality obligations and the potential consumer benefits of acquiring Time Warner Cable.