The head of the Federal Communications Commission has accused Comcast of
breaking the rules of internet traffic management by
throttling
or blocking peer-to-peer traffic.
"The FCC has adopted a set of principles that protects consumer access to the
internet," FCC chairman Kevin Martin told Associated Press on 10 July. "We found
that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles."
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Martin stated that Comcast's blocking was "arbitrary" and did not relate to
the amount of data that P2P was taking up on the network.
The FCC chairman recommended sanctions against Comcast to be decided at a
meeting on 1 August.
Marvin Ammori, general counsel at Free Press, and author of the original
complaint against Comcast, issued a statement on the decision in which he
accused Comcast of "blocking free choice on the internet".
"At every turn, Comcast has denied blocking, lied to the public and tried to
avoid being held accountable. We have presented an open and shut case that
Comcast broke the law," he said.
We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles
Kevin Martin Federal Communications Commission
"The FCC now appears ready to take action on behalf of consumers. This is an
historic test for whether the law will protect the open internet.
"If the FCC decisively rules against Comcast, it will be a remarkable victory
for organised people over organised money."
However, it seems unlikely that Comcast will face much more than a slap on
the wrist for its actions, which it says were merely prudent network management.
A spokesperson said that the company was simply managing its network to
ensure that all customers got a good quality connection.
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