NBC's Rick Cotton on DPI - Or is it Comcast?

 

Washington Post's Cecilia Kang interviewed Rick Cotton, the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s coalition against counterfeiting and piracy and the general counsel of NBC Universal on the cost of counterfeiting intellectual property on the Internet and how Washington has been responding (here).

Among other things, Mr. Cotton was asked about DPI (note that NBC Universal and Comcast are discussing a merger):

"Q: But can you understand the concern that the use of technologies like DPI could be misused? Who is to say those ISPs won’t use the data they find through that surveillance for other commercial purposes with behavioral advertising?

A: It is possible to use technology in ways that fully respect privacy rights and that are fully consistent with free access concerns with respect to broadband Internet. What is needed is cooperative explanation of how to achieve both. Technology is much more capable than that."

Looks more like the Comcast (as a carrier) view rather than the traditional OTT(Over The Top)/content providers’ (NBC) position.