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Aug. 22, 2008

The FCC has formally published its decision that Comcast wasn't using reasonable network management techniques in its handling of peer-to-peer (P2P) applications.

The Federal Communications Commission is actually accusing Comcast of trying to hamper the sharing of films via P2P in order to protect its video-on-demand (VOD) business.

For it's part, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin continued to justify the moves by using the analogy of having the Post Office “opening your mail.”

By a 3 to 2 vote of FCC commissioners, Comcast was given thirty days to fully disclose the details of its network management practices.

Comcast was also ordered to submit a plan describing how it intends to comply with the FCC’s network neutrality guidelines no later than by December 31, 2008.

Commissioners Deborah Tate and Robert McDowell dissented, on general anti-regulatory grounds.

Of course the analogy is so faulty it raises suspicion of disingenuousness... The question is: How would people like it if they paid for overnight delivery, but then some other government agency disallowed the Post Office from prioritizing what gets delivered?

The vast bulk of the decision – dozens of pages – were dedicated to reiterating the FCC’s authority to make its ruling decision at all, something that Comcast disputes.

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Source: S.N.P.