With the online video industry booming in recent years, it seems that this competition might have compelled Comcast to try and enter the market themselves. With the likes of Netflix and Hulu allowing millions of subscribers to stream movies and TV shows straight to their living rooms has caused a potential threat to the cable television industry that Comcast is hoping to halt. Comcast made an offer to purchase NBC Universal television from General Electric for $13.75 billion. The purchase would allow Comcast to have exclusive control of the distribution of all the content that NBC Universal owns the rights to. This is a blatant attempt by Comcast to block all of NBC Universal content from online video services and to provide it only to Comcast's cable television subscribers. Due to the significant amount of content that NBC Universal owns, this would most likely stunt the growth of the online video industry. This situation is being investigated by the Justice Department and hopefully they will not allow for the purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast.
Comcast is a company that a lot of people are going to despise if they keep up their plans to control the content that we can readily access over internet. Ever since winning their battle with the FCC, Comcast has the legal right to discriminate against websites that they don't like by slowing down online traffic on them. This will allow Comcast, along with other internet providers, to have control on what websites subscribers can access and hindering the access to websites they prefer to block.The FCC has tried to enforce net neutrality but they don't have the power to ever since they deregulated broadband in 2005 under the Bush administration. Comcast is on their way to monopolizing the online video industry with the purchase of NBC Universal unless the Justice Department and FCC imposes restrictions on them. Who's to say that Comcast won't buy even more movie and television companies? While they're at it, Comcast can throttle down access to websites like Hulu and Netflix to directly benefit their company while leaving the competition in the dust. This is very alarming that one company has so much control.
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