FCC: Comcast Has Unlawfully Interfered With Web File-Sharing Traffic

The much anticipated ruling is here – the Federal Communications Commission has come to the conclusion that cable provider Comcast has illegally interfered with the transfer of specific digital video files. The agency is, this way, establishing the government's right to regulate how Internet companies manage Web traffic.

Republican FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin and Democrats Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein had affirmed the complaint as of Friday. Republican Robert M. McDowell is expected to vote against the complaint and Republican Deborah Taylor Tate has yet revealed what will her vote be. The vote (of the full board) is to take place on Friday.

Still, Comcast maintains its defensive attitude towards its practices:

"Our network management practices were reasonable, wholly consistent with industry practices and . . . we did not block access to Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services," said Sena Fitzmaurice, a spokeswoman for Comcast.

However, no details of the order have yet been offered, but we know Martin has no intention of fining Comcast.

Some analysts already predict that this ruling will set a precedent with regard to the level of transparency carriers should have when it comes to revealing the way they manage the Internet traffic over their networks.

In the months prior to the FCC's decision, some cable and telecommunications companies have given up their attempts to cut short specific applications and, instead, have started to introduce new pricing and usage models that would make sending and receiving large volumes of data more expensive.