Disputes arose during Comcast Corp.’s hearing for treatment of subscriber Internet traffic on Wednesday at Harvard Law School.  The organizer of the federal hearing claimed that the Internet service provider allegedly hired “seat warmers” in order to prevent other attendees from the entering the room.

Comcast had no hesitations about agreeing with the accusation.  The company told reporters it had hired an undisclosed number of people to “hold” seats for Boston area Comcast employees.  The seat warmers were to relinquish their seats once all employees arrived at the hearing.

According to Catherine Bracy, the administrative manager at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, even after the hearing had begun did many of the hired seat warmers remain where they were.  She stated that over three dozen of the hires arrived on site hours in advance, snatched up seats, and stayed where they were throughout the event, while individuals trying to enter were turned away.

"I think it's disingenuous to say they were holding spots for Comcast employees," Bracy told the Associated Press. “No employees came in to take those seats when the event started."

Comcast spokeswoman, Sena Fitzmaurice, said the idea of hiring the seat warmers was to combat the advocacy group, Free Press, for its lobbying to get its backers to attend.

The hearing at Harvard Law School came after complaints were filed that Comcast was meddling with P2P traffic by impersonating users’ computers.

Robert Kenny, FCC spokesman, declined to comment on Comcast’s actions.