The FCC says cable MSO Comcast policy of “reasonable network management” violates federal guidelines while picking and choosing which customers and sites will get the fastest Web access.
It’s the first time an Internet provider has been called out by regulators on the issue of the issue of Net Neutrality. “The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers’ access to the internet,” says FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. “We found that Comcast’s actions in this instance violated our principles.”
Comcast’s Internet throttling was detailed in a November 2007 report from The Electronic Frontier Foundation analyzing Comcast’s Internet traffic interference activities suggesting that the MSO was using packet-forging to disrupt peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing on their network.
Wired magazine reports that Comcast has also tampered with public access to officials.
Comcast faced further public outrage after it admitted to paying people off the street to sit at a public hearing at Harvard, while members of the public were prevented from attending. At the time, Comcast claimed it merely paid people to save spots at the hearing for Comcast employees, but the event’s organizer disputed that claim.
Sources: Wired Magazine, ArsTechnia, TorrentFreak, FCC Commisioner McDowell in the Washington Post