Did Comcast Hire Public Stand-ins For Neutrality Hearing? > COMCAST: Crowd Shaping is Reasonable Seat Management

said by ars technica :

(article link)

Excerpts...

...allegations have surfaced that Comcast paid people to show up and sit in the meeting room in order to keep people from expressing their feelings about Comcast's actions to the FCC. Save The Internet is accusing Comcast of busing in a crowd of supports to pack the room.

"These seat-warmers were paid to fill the room, a move that kept others from taking part," according to a posting on the Save The Internet blog. "They arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep."

Comcast denies packing the room. "We did pay some individuals to stand in line and hold seats for Comcast employees," Comcast spokesperson Charlie Douglas told Ars. "It's a common practice in Washington, DC."

(article link)

said by MARK JEWELL, AP Business Writer :

(article link)
Many people were turned away before Monday's Federal Communications Commission hearing at Harvard Law School, leading critics to accuse Comcast of stifling debate over the company's practice of favoring some forms of Internet traffic over others.

Comcast said it hired people to hold seats only after an advocacy group called Free Press urged its backers to attend.

"For the past week, the Free Press has engaged in a much more extensive campaign to lobby people to attend the hearing on its behalf," Philadelphia-based Comcast said in a statement.
(article link)