FCC voted today against Comcast "shoot first and ask questions later."

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Richard Bennett [richard () bennett com]
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 10:23 PM
Subject: FCC voted today against Comcast

As expected, the FCC's Democrats joined Commissioner Martin today in
voting for an order sanctioning Comcast for targeting P2P seeders for
traffic management. The order doesn't carry any fines, but it apparently
does direct Comcast to stop targeting P2P and to turn over information
about when and how P2P was identified.

It strikes me as especially weird that the Commission would tell Comcast
to stop doing what they're doing and also, oh, by the way, ask to know
exactly what they are doing. I think the legal term for this is "shoot
first and ask questions later." Here's the story from the WSJ:

   By Amy Schatz
   Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

  WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Federal Communications Commission is on
the verge of finding Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK) violated federal
policy by hampering the ability of customers to share large files
online, a decision that would set a precedent over how much control
phone and cable companies have over how consumers use the Internet.

  On Friday afternoon, three of five FCC commissioners had voted in
favor of an item that finds the cable giant violated federal policy by
slowing or blocking some Internet traffic over file-sharing services,
according to FCC officials. That virtually guarantees approval of the
item, even if the other two other FCC commissioners vote against it.

  Final FCC approval is expected Aug.1 at a previously scheduled
commission meeting.

  An FCC spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

  Several FCC officials confirmed that three votes had been made in the
Comcast matter. Democratic commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan
Adelstein voted in favor, as did FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Approval of
the order chastising Comcast wasn't a significant surprise. All three of
the commissioners have been publicly critical of the cable company's
Internet management practices.

  The FCC's action stems from a complaint filed last November by
consumer groups, which accused Comcast of blocking subscribers from
using some peer-to-peer file-sharing services

  The FCC would require Comcast to stop slowing or blocking access to
certain online applications, mostly video file-sharing services such as
BitTorrent. The company would also be required to provide more
disclosure to consumers about its network management practices and
provide more details to the FCC about how it's blocked or slowed traffic
in the past.

  The agency would not fine Comcast for violating network management
practices, however. Mr. Martin told reporters recently that it wouldn't
be appropriate to fine the company since it hadn't been previously clear
what the agency's rules were.

  Comcast has not denied it slows some peer-to-peer Internet traffic but
has maintained that it hasn't violated federal rules. Comcast argued
that it needed to do something to stop a small number of subscribers
from taking up too much of the network's bandwidth. The company
announced earlier this year it would change the way it manages network
traffic to a more neutral method by the end of December.

  "It is always hard to respond to rumors, however, we continue to
assert that our network management practices were reasonable, wholly
consistent with industry practices and that we did not block access to
Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services," said
Sena Fitzmaurice, a Comcast spokeswoman. "We do not believe the record
supports any other conclusion."

  Comcast has questioned whether the FCC has authority to fine companies
for violating a 2005 policy statement which laid out "net neutrality"
principles designed to prevent Internet providers from deliberately
slowing or blocking some Internet traffic. The network neutrality
principles say subscribers have the right to access any legal content
and use any service they choose online, as long as they don't harm the
network.


RB
--
Richard Bennett



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