$10 Internet service: Do you qualify?

Comcast is now offering Internet service for just $9.95 a month.

The company's Internet Essentials program, first launched in May in Chicago, will provide "fast, affordable home Internet service," a low-cost computer ($150) at the time of startup, and free Internet training from a personal representative. Here's the catch: only certain families will qualify.

The criteria are simple. Comcast asks that families be located in an area where Comcast offers Internet service, that they "have at least one child receiving free school lunches through the National School Lunch Program," and that they do not have a recent subscription with Comcast Internet service or "an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment."

All of this amounts to the requirement that a potential customer comes from a low income background and has either a blank history or a positive record with Comcast.

There is one downside: Fox News in Houston reports that users of this service will have a slower-than-average connection.