Pearl Jam Accuses AT&T Of Censoring Webcast

When a "live" webcast of grunge band legend Pearl Jam's Lollapalooza performance didn't make it to the audience in tact, the band immediately pointed a finger at AT&T, who sponsored and monitored the event, accusing the telecommunications giant of censorship.

What in the future may be viewed as AT&T's colossal blunder has intensified the Network Neutrality debate as supporters of the cause cite it as proof-positive the company that makes up the backbone of the Internet has at least the ability, if not the incentive, to control what people see and hear.

The offending content? In a medley combining the song "Daughter" with Pink Floyd's classic "Another Brick in the Wall," lead singer Eddie Vedder altered the lyrics to challenge President George W. Bush:

"George Bush, leave this world alone. George Bush find yourself another home."

No matter your politics, you'd be hard pressed to find an American that wouldn't support, at least, Vedder's right to say that – unless you look somewhere deep inside the AT&T headquarters, where the Patriot Act and the National Security Agency are frequent visitors.

Not that that had anything to do with those lyrics not making it over the so-called "live" webcast. AT&T says it was an accident – sort of.
In numerous early sources (this story is about to blow, by the way), an AT&T spokesperson said one of their webcast editors, in an overzealous attempt to police foul language, goofed.

In a statement to
Not according to Tiffany Nels, who is quoted in the

Policy or not, it happened, and somebody's probably fired, as this is about to cause a heap of trouble for AT&T.

The band itself broke the news via

Worse for AT&T, they effectively used former CEO Ed Whiteacre's words against him, quoting one of many times the company's messages haven't matched its actions:

But as the band notes, not even choice of another provider is really true. Even if you did go with another provider, guess who owns the backbone, and who, ultimately, controls access? We suppose this is another example of the "healthy" competition that exists in the telco industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLd22ha_-VU