FCC May Punish Comcast over Web Blocking

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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AP reports that members of the FCC have voted in favor of punishing Comcast for blocking subscribers’ Internet traffic. Three of the five commissioners have cast votes to support the punishment, which is enough for a majority. However, the decision will not be final until all five votes are cast and the issue is on the agenda for the next FCC meeting on Aug 1. GG Comcast.

The text of the order is not public. But [FCC chairman Kevin] Martin has said it will not include a fine. He also said it will require Comcast to stop its practice of blocking; provide details to the commission on the extent and manner in which the practice has been used; and to disclose to consumers details on future plans for managing its network going forward.
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I hope the FCC does punish comcast over that :), well doesn't really matter to me any more, i switched back to windstream, still get same speeds, and oh! no throttling too!!
 
I expect nothing more than a wrist slap fine, and Comcast having to put up with a bit more scrutiny for a while, and to continue making money hand over fist by offering less for more.
I don't expect them to fix the actual problems, overselling of bandwidth and the pathetically inadequate infrastructure.

The demand is there, built it and charge accordingly. Don't just sit on the same pipes and continue to add more customers hoping no one actually uses the service you are charging them for. It should be obvious by now that, that is not working.
 
Read Kevin Martin's comments again. He said there will be no fine so they aren't even hitting them where it hurts, in the pocketbook.
 
Terry Olaes said:
Read Kevin Martin's comments again. He said there will be no fine so they aren't even hitting them where it hurts, in the pocketbook.
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Damn, not even a wrist slap then. I should have done more than skimmed it.
I re-read it, and essentially, they are not going to do anything. Comcast has to be upfront on what shaping it does and can't block traffic for a while.

Well, we will see when the actual findings and orders are made public.
 
Man, they should at least make Comcast give all current customers 6 months free internet! :D
 
SippieCup said:
is comcast still throttling though? or have they stopped?
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Comcast denies doing anything of course, but a site did some testing a while back and found that fr p2p applications, something like %60 of packet were simply "dropped" not even blocked, just dropped into space so to speak.

Rogers cable does this, start any p2p and your download speeds suck and if you hit 5KB upload your download drops to 1-3KB instantly.
 
It's so funny cause I've had Comcast for years and always get very fast torrent download speeds. I don't even randomize ports. I use utorrent's "encryption" feature, but I doubt that helps much in making it hard for comcast to detect. Maybe it's cause I don't download torrents non-stop. I just download what I need, seed a bit, then stop.
 
Unless the money from the "fine" goes back to the subscribers, then they are only punishing the consumer.
 
I love me my 10Mb access throttled internet.

Why not throw some d/l monthly caps on there too?

Don't you love it when you can do things that the receiver (unsolicited) has to pay for (web ads, etc)?
 
DemonDiablo said:
nvm. It seems the FCC is all bark and no bite.
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I disagree. I think this is a good move for them. The issue with fineing comcast is that the FCC says that the users connections are "subject to reasonable network management." without defining what "reasonable network management." is in clear terms. I would bet if there was a monitary fine comcast would sue to get it reversed and may win due to the vague definition. It also puts them on notice that the FCC is paying attention and not to try something like it again.
 
MrGuvernment said:
Rogers cable does this, start any p2p and your download speeds suck and if you hit 5KB upload your download drops to 1-3KB instantly.
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I have an 8mbps ROGERS pipe and my utorrent is open 24/7 and its always at very high speeds.
 
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