FCC to Thump Comcast on Internet Filtering

In an apparent victory for proponents of an open Internet, a bipartisan majority of the Federal Communications Commission has reportedly resolved to vote to sanction U.S. cable operator Comcast for blocking consumer’s Internet traffic. The dispute stems from an Associated Press investigation last year that revealed Comcast was forging reset packets to shut down selected peer-to-peer file sharing connections on its network, effectively blocking consumers’ ability to access an unrestricted Internet. The action violates the four “principles of openness” the FCC laid down for the Internet in 2005, and while Comcast felt those principles didn’t carry the force of federal regulation…the FCC apparently feels differently.

Comcast is the United States’ largest cable operator, and second-largest ISP. In combatting charges, the company first denied that it filtered any traffic, then claimed its actions were within the realm of reasonable network management. However, the company stepped into a public relations debacle when it attempted limited available seating at an FCC hearing with Comcast employees. The company has since said it wants to have a hand in crafting a “P2P Bill of Rights”

No word has come down on what sort of penalties the FCC might levy against Comcast; the official vote on the matter will take place Friday, August 1.

Free Press, the author of the complaint against Comcast, released a statement from general counsel Marvin Ammori: “Comcast’s blocking is a flagrant violation of the online rights established by the FCC. If adopted, this order would send a strong signal to the marketplace that arbitrarily interfering with users’ online choices is not acceptable.”

The four principles of openness outlined in the FCC’s 2005 Internet Policy Statement (PDF) are that consumers are entitled to access lawful Internet content; entitled to run applications and use services of their choice; entitled to connect to any legal service they like that doesn’t harm the network; and entitled to competition among network, application, content, and service providers.