IP Democracy: Groups Petition FCC to Stop Comcast's P2P Delays

In a move that was all but expected, a group of consumer advocates and scholars have asked the FCC to force Comcast from mickeying with its customers' ability to fully using file-sharing applications such as BitTorrent. The Open Internet Coalition along with professors at the Internet practices of the Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools are among the parties that contend that Comcast's efforts to delay the uploading of P2P files is a violation of the FCC's own policies.

Free Press and Public Knowledge are separately asking the FCC to demand a "forfeiture" from Comcast of $195,000 per affected subscriber, an amount double the typical fine because of what the groups contend are Comcast's deception in implementing its P2P practices without letting customers know beforehand.

The FCC's policies, as articulated in the famed "Four Freedoms," give consumers the right to access content and use applications of their choice but also give broadband providers the right to implement "reasonable" network management. Comcast contends that if it doesn't put some restrictions on P2P sharing, the network will crawl to a halt.

This is one of the first full-fledged test cases of network neutrality, and it could be a great one. At issue is the tension between unfettered Internet access on the one hand and the imposition of constraints that maintain the integrity of the network on the other hand. More specifically, the FCC is being asked to judge whether Comcast's P2P management practices are worth the price of limiting some users' abilities to use some applications.

It could very well be the case that Comcast (and every other broadband service provider) is justified in delaying P2P uploads. But the operator might now have to explain in detail what the threats of P2P are and how and why its technology is warranted.

Although Comcast may understandbly be reluctant to spill the beans on what it considers to be a security and network safety issue, history is replete with examples of network operators claiming the need to maintain network integrity as a reason for thwarting unwanted rivals (think AT&T and MCI). P2P applications aren't exactly rivals to Comcast or any other network provider, particularly given that Comcast isn't delaying downloads of videos, but something like Joost, premised on P2P technology, might someday pose a threat to Comcast's TV-based video service.

In any event, the FCC will likely do nothing about the petition. For one thing, there are no specific rules in place that Comcast has violated, merely "policy" goals. For another, the current Commission is more reluctant than usual to take up causes that it hasn't itself instigated. Markham Erickson, Executive Director of the Open Internet Coalition, said in a statement that "we hope the FCC will back up its policy statements with immediate action." That probably won't happen, but if it does, it's a good test case.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 1, 2007 3:11 PM to IP Democracy