Comcast Responds to FCC Probe of Web Management
FCC Opened Investigation After Articles Claimed Web Uploads Were Blocked
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 1/25/2008 3:33:00 PM
Comcast filed a response Friday at the Federal Communications Commission in connection with the agency’s probe of the company’s broadband traffic-management practices now under attack by groups claiming Comcast is blocking and slowing down large data files in a discriminatory manner.
Comcast declined to release its answer to the media, in keeping with the confidential nature of the FCC’s investigation.
"We have filed our confidential response to the FCC Enforcement Bureau's confidential request for information,” said Sena Fitzmaurice, Comcast’s senior director of corporate communications and government affairs, late Friday afternoon. “As we have noted consistently, Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services."
The FCC probe followed Associated Press articles that positioned Comcast as blocking peer-to-peer file sharing Internet transmissions by BitTorrent users. Comcast said it was only managing the flow of large files, especially upstream traffic, to minimize network congestion.
The AP stories triggered complaints at the FCC that Comcast violated the FCC’s August 2005 principles aimed at preserving an open Internet, one of which states that “consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement.”
The FCC’s principles were not formal “rules” and they “are subject to reasonable network management” practices.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin has called on broadband network owners to do a better job of publicizing their network-management policies.
“Comcast will work with the [FCC] in our shared goal of providing appropriate transparency for consumers regarding broadband network management. Our terms of service advise our customers of Comcast's right to manage our network for the benefit of all customers,” Fitzmaurice said.
