GROUPS SEEK STOP TO COMCAST NET MEDDLING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars on Thursday formally asked
the Federal Communications Commission to stop Comcast Corp. from interfering
with its subscribers' file sharing. Two of the groups are also asking the FCC
to fine Comcast $195,000 for every affected subscriber. The petitions will be
the first real test of the FCC's stance on "Net Neutrality," the long-standing
principle that Internet traffic be treated equally by carriers. The agency has
a policy supporting the concept but its position hasn't been tested in a
real-world case. The petition asks the commission to immediately declare that
Comcast is violating the FCC's policy. The co-signers are Consumer Federation
of America; Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports; Media Access
Project; Public Knowledge; and professors at the Internet practices of the
Yale, Harvard and Stanford law schools. Free Press and Public Knowledge are
separately filing a formal complaint that asks the FCC to demand a "forfeiture"
from Comcast of $195,000 per affected subscriber. The number is based on the
statutory maximum of $97,500 for a single continuing violation, doubled by what
the groups see as deception on the company's part. Comcast is the country's
largest cable company and has 12.9 million Internet subscribers, making it the
second-largest Internet service provider.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_hi_te/comcast_data_discrimination
* FCC Pressed to Stop Comcasts Internet Blocking (Free Press)
http://www.freepress.net/news/27637
* Groups Ask FCC to End Comcasts Net Filtering
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6496520.html?rssid=196
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