[Infowarrior] - FCC to Probe Comcast Data Discrimination

[Richard Forno]

FCC to Probe Comcast Data Discrimination

By PETER SVENSSON ­ 4 hours ago

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyYIyHWl3sEg1ZktvVRLdlmQ5hpwD8U1UOFO0

LAS VEGAS (AP) ‹ The Federal Communications Commission will investigate
complaints that Comcast Corp. actively interferes with Internet traffic as
its subscribers try to share files online, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said
Tuesday.

A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars asked the agency in
November to stop Comcast from discriminating against certain types of data.
Two groups also asked the FCC to fine the nation's No. 2 Internet provider
$195,000 for every affected subscriber.

"Sure, we're going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to
be blocked," Martin told an audience at the International Consumer
Electronics Show.

In an investigation last year, The Associated Press found that Comcast in
some cases hindered file sharing by subscribers who used BitTorrent, a
popular file-sharing program. The findings, first reported Oct. 19,
confirmed claims by users who also noticed interference with other
file-sharing applications.

Comcast denies that it blocks file sharing, but acknowledged after the AP
story that it was "delaying" some of the traffic between computers that
share files. The company said the intervention was necessary to improve the
surfing experience for the majority of its subscribers.

Peer-to-peer file sharing is a common way to illegally exchange copyright
files, but companies are also rushing to utilize it for legal distribution
of video and game content. If ISPs hinder or control that traffic, it makes
them important gatekeepers of Internet content.

The FCC's response will be an important test of its willingness to enforce
"Net Neutrality," the principle that Internet traffic be treated equally by
carriers. The agency has a broadly stated policy supporting the concept, but
its position hasn't been tested in a real-world case.

The FCC's policy statement makes an exception for "reasonable traffic
management." Comcast has said its practices fall under that exception.

"The question is going to arise: Are they reasonable network practices?"
Martin said Tuesday. "When they have reasonable network practices, they
should disclose those and make those public."

Comcast subscribers who asked the company about interference on their
connections before the AP story ran were met with flat denials.

A Comcast spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

Martin also said the commission was looking at complaints that wireless
carriers denied text-messaging "short codes" to some applicants. The
five-digit numbers are a popular way to sign up for updates on everything
from sports to politics to entertainment news.

Verizon Wireless in late September denied a request by Naral Pro-Choice
America, an abortion rights group, to use its mobile network for a sign-up
text messaging program.

The company reversed course just a day later, calling it a mistake and an
"isolated incident."

Verizon Wireless has also denied a short code to a Swedish company, Rebtel
Networks AB, that operates a service similar to a virtual calling card,
allowing users to avoid paying the carrier's international rates on their
cell-phone calls. Verizon Wireless has stuck to that denial, saying it does
want to provide an advertising venue to a competitor.

"I tell the staff that they should act on all of those complaints and
investigate all of them," Martin said.