FCC poised to punish Comcast for traffic blocking
WASHINGTON (AP) - July 25, 2008 Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, was accused of
violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to
the Internet.
Three commissioners have voted in favor of an order reaching
agreement with the finding, enough for a majority on the
five-member commission. But the decision will not be final until
all five members have cast their votes. The commission is scheduled
to take up the issue at its Aug. 1 meeting.
The three votes in favor were Democrats Michael Copps and
Jonathan Adelstein and Republican chairman Kevin Martin, who
recommended the company be found in violation, according to the
official, who asked not to be named because the vote was not yet
final.
The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint
against Comcast Corp. that the company had blocked Internet traffic
among users of a certain type of "file sharing" software that
allows them to exchange large amounts of data.
The text of the order is not public. But Martin has said it will
not include a fine. He also said it will require Comcast to stop
its practice of blocking; provide details to the commission on the
extent and manner in which the practice has been used; and to
disclose to consumers details on future plans for managing its
network going forward.
The FCC approved a policy statement in September 2005 that
outlined a set of principles meant to ensure that broadband
networks are "widely deployed, open, affordable and accessible to
all consumers."
The principles, however, are "subject to reasonable network
management."
Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice in a statement released
Friday night said the company's network management practices are
"reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices and that we
did not block access to Web sites or online applications, including
peer-to-peer services."
The action is the first test of the agency's network neutrality
principles. Members of both the House and Senate have sponsored
network neutrality bills, but they have never come close to
becoming law.
Large Internet service providers have fought against such
regulation, arguing that it is a solution in search of a problem
and that companies that spend billions on their networks must be
free to manage traffic.