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Comcast loses: FCC head slams company's P2P filtering

arstechnica.com — The FCC's Kevin Martin announced late Thursday that he wants to act against Comcast in the ongoing debate over the company's P2P throttling scheme. If he can round up two more votes, net neutrality could soon be coming to an FCC near you.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 11, 2008

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  • cnicodemus, on 07/11/2008, -7/+119***** Comcast!
  • ktzstanza, on 07/11/2008, -3/+94Thumbs up FCC!
  • MariusAgricola, on 07/11/2008, -2/+66And sanity prevails in the FCC for once.
  • chrisvc86, on 07/11/2008, -1/+62WOW, shocked that the FCC came through for us.
  • Archer007, on 07/11/2008, -3/+61Go net neutrality!
  • funchords, on 07/11/2008, -0/+50Comcast abused their power and the trust of Internet users.

    When Comcast bought up large systems to become the largest Cable MSO, it did not buy the Internet. Comcast has no right to change how the Internet works -- not one byte of it.

    How the world-wide Internet works is defined by all of us, through our participation and trust in the Internet Society and the Internet Engineering Task Force. To ensure interoperability and access for all, changes must be carefully deliberated and standardized there. The responsibility of operating the Internet in accordance with those standards is entrusted to companies providing access to it. It's not Comcast's job to change how the Internet works nor can it decide who or what gets preference upon it.

    I haven't seen anything other than the press reports about something to be circulated around the FCC. I am hopeful that when the details are released that it serves to preserve and protect the Internet from those who would abuse their power and change it.
  • Nerdable, on 07/11/2008, -0/+39now we're rooting for FCC... my how things can change...
  • inactive, on 07/11/2008, -2/+39Take that bitches!
  • borez, on 07/11/2008, -0/+32Unlimited should mean unlimited... end of.
  • thcobbs, on 07/11/2008, -0/+27At least wait until after they have removed their thumbs from their usual location.
  • Veni_Vidi_Vici, on 07/11/2008, -1/+18I'm all for liberty, but a proper net neutrality law would also prevent the government from controlling the internet, with the exception of the law itself. So net neutrality is one control I think we do want.
  • curtisag, on 07/11/2008, -0/+16Ever heard of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?
  • krische, on 07/11/2008, -0/+13"The cable company has already announced plans to transition away from the current throttling regime to something that looks more at overall bandwidth use rather than particular applications."

    So it sounds like Comcast is going to go the way of TimeWarner and start testing with monthly transfer limits.
  • Tyrghast, on 07/11/2008, -1/+12FCC, I welcome our temporary allegiance, but look forward to the day in which we meet again as adversaries.
  • PacoDEmu, on 07/11/2008, -0/+11"Our website offers detailed information on our network management practices."

    Detailed my ass. Their website doesn't tell you jack ***** about their network management practices.

    Is it really so hard to not lie all the time?
  • inactive, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9I love how comcast said " the fcc hasn't provided any other way to deal with the network traffic" I got an idea comcast, UPGRADE THE NETWORK! gasp! anything but that!
  • thcobbs, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9Don't get greedy HareBall
  • inactive, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9PS3's Metal Gear Solid 4 uses bittorrent to download updates to its online gameplay. Is comcast going to throttle me for using torrents over my ps3?

    yeah, you lose crapcast
  • s0m31john, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9I still don't like the FCC.
  • snotrokit, on 07/11/2008, -0/+8Well, at least they aren't copying everything you do for the NSA....
  • Xopl, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7Look into how much of your tax money was spent on upgrading the networks they use already, then look at your service. We got screwed, big time.
  • faceless323, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7not one byte...but seven bits. :|
  • UtahApocalyse, on 07/11/2008, -1/+7Why does no one realize that Net Neutrality IS Net Regulation.... sure its pakaged all nice for the consumer now, but soon as government gets its hands into the Internet that will quickly change.
  • whytheam, on 07/11/2008, -1/+7Finally, the FCC does something right.
  • Noods, on 07/11/2008, -18/+24Welcome to the days where the government controls everything.
  • hexydes, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6@PeppermintPi: Ok, so you're suggesting we abolish the FCC and just let people use the spectrum for whatever they want? Which would basically create the situation of "Whoever has the most money and can blanket the largest amount of area with the strongest signal gets 100% of the market." Or local monopolies where corporations come in and simply pay the municipality off so that they keep competition out? Please.

    Yes the FCC is a bit behind and draconian in nature. Yes, they've made questionable choices in the past. However, overall, they do a good job of keeping organized an industry that would be an absolute cluster without at least a bit of forced structure.

    I'm rarely ever for government involvement; in fact, I like as little government as possible. However, this is one of those few situations where, unless we have a (mostly impartial) group representing us, then we're just going to be at the mercy of groups that don't have everyones' best interest in mind.
  • MtheoryX, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6@banthis:

    ... yeah, for now.
  • du4l1ty, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6Comcast is basically a monopoly in many areas anyways (city hall deals) I don't know why they don't break it up so that the free market can decide.
  • smacksaw, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5I see these articles, and I always think the same thing, which is to make the ISPs be truthful about both the top AND THE BOTTOM speeds of the service and guarantee it to us.

    I don't have a problem paying for a connection with a realistic speed. Truth in advertising. Not that freakin' difficult. No need to throttle if they simple partition a reasonable amount to everyone and let them use that amount as much as they like.
  • Terr01, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5That's a bit like saying that the First Amendment is a form of censorship.

    We've basically got a monopoly/duopoly situation with a lot of prior financing by taxpayers, and those titans of industry should thre not be allowed to perform content discrimination. That includes for the government.
  • inactive, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5Also, I think it's ridiculous that comcast is choosing sides in the filesharing war when it is a gray legal area. Apparently the RIAA and MPAA have some good investments in Comcast.
  • superkendall, on 07/11/2008, -2/+6Which is why it's good that the FCC slapping down Comcast is NOT THE SAME as Net Neutrality as we know it. It's just a good idea.
  • curtisag, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4I'm glad I canceled my cable TV and internet service with Comcast. I switched to AT&T DSL and U-verse TV. Comcast can go sit on a ***** dick and spin till their pockets are empty.
  • ralph12c41, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5Mr Martin nominated by President is the kind of man we should hope continues to serve. if Mr Change....BHO is elected. Don't count on it!!
  • inactive, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4Not a single nibble of it.
  • dotCOMmie, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4Many ISPs block server type applications from running. Including but not limited to HTTP, FTP, SMTP. How does this play with the following quote:

    "consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement"

    I would assume that using this guideline restricting people from running servers would be foul.
  • DarkShroud, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4@electricalen

    That's why on Digg you add a /s at the end of your comment. Just so people who don't know you will know you're not a tard.
  • megamod, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5about time...I knew they'd do something right eventually
  • HareBall, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4And wash them!
  • Jeffler, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Now, can someone take care of Bell?
  • muniak, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3...story?
  • iadiggs10, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Actually I think Comcast cares because that traffic eats up a lot of their bandwidth. Less filesharing means more profits for the owners of Comcast! Really its all about the money.
  • krische, on 07/11/2008, -1/+4http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080213-comc ...

    "(it also notes in a footnote that it does not use the word "unlimited" to describe its services, so it's not guilty of false advertising). "
  • normalkid0615, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3LOL I love it because I work for them. They pay me well :)

    I almost laughed when I received a company wide e-mail about protecting company privacy and I LOL'd because WTF are they doing with my PERSONAL information? They want to give away my personal information, but keep theirs secret.
  • netengineer10, on 07/11/2008, -3/+6Lets not kid ourselves, this is a way for the FCC to start regulating the internet, first by showing us that it will protect us, but once It gets the votes it needs to start being the "protector" of the internet, what stops them from giving fines to ISP's that host material deemed inappropriate?
  • borez, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3I was really referring to ISP's here in the UK who use the the words "Unlimited Broadband" When most of the time it's nothing of the sort, I presume it's the same in the States.
  • afallucco, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2This is very good, I was beginning to think that Net Neutrality was a losing battle.
  • Terr01, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2IMO the real issue is discrimination over content and competition with a monopoly/duopoly.

    In the case of, say, BitTorrent, Comcast is arguably using their power to quash a possible rival to their Cable TV department.

    Similarly, what legitimate interest Comcast have if the data I send and recieve goes to ComcastRocks.com versus ComcastSucks.com?
  • Gudeldar, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2You know actually posting somewhere near the comment your replying to usually helps others understand what the ***** your talking about.
  • Xopl, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2Yes, and thanks to the government sponsored monopoly they have in most markets, it'll just be more of the same: less service for higher cost to the consumer.
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