Net News

FCC Orders Comcast to
Cease Blocking Large Files

Comcast has been testing new technologies that would slow the transmission of Internet files for its biggest users by as much as 20 minutes during times of heavy network congestion. But the nation's largest cable provider has promised not to target specific content, such as video files that compete with its cable television business.

The tests come as the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) late last month released an order that forces Comcast to stop its earlier efforts to block transmission of certain Internet files; a ruling that public interest groups hailed, saying it would prevent network operators from acting as gatekeepers of the Web.

In a 67-page order, the FCC said Comcast violated the FCC's Internet Policy Statement by interfering with customers' use of peer-to-peer (“P2P”) applications, specifically BitTorrent, an open-source peer-to-peer application.

FCC Slams Comcast

The FCC pulled no punches against Comcast in its order, saying Comcast was not forthcoming about its network-management practices, and changed its story about when and why it monitors and blocks network traffic. The agency also said it has evidence that Comcast:

• Blocked customers using little bandwidth because they were using BitTorrent;
• Blocked customers using BitTorrent and other P2P applications when there was no network congestion; and
• Blocked access in regions far from heavy traffic.

In the order, the FCC concluded that Comcast's earlier management of Internet traffic was discriminatory and “inconsistent with the concept of an open and accessible Internet.”

After public hearings and several months of investigations, the agency said Comcast had looked into the packets of Internet files being transferred between users and deliberately blocked certain files.

The commission said Comcast had an “anticompetitive motive” because it delayed and blocked peer-to-peer files through applications such as BitTorrent. Such files often are high-quality video that might otherwise be watched and paid for on cable television.

The agency gave Comcast 30 days to provide details on how it manages Web traffic and come up with a plan describing how it will stop the practice.

So Says the Commission

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin wrote in a statement that the order was “another important step to ensure that all consumers have unfettered access to the Internet.” He compared Comcast's blocking of Internet content to the post office secretly opening mail and deciding not to send it.

Martin, a Republican, voted with the two Democratic commissioners, Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein, to adopt the order against Comcast. The other two Republican commissioners, Robert M. McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate, voted against the order.

Commissioner McDowell, who sided with Comcast, said the FCC adopted the Internet Policy Statement as a general guideline, not to serve as enforceable rules. He also said there are no rules in place governing Internet network management.

“If Congress had wanted us to regulate Internet network management, it would have said so explicitly in the statue,” McDowell said.

Comcast has maintained that management of traffic among its 14.4 million Internet users is nondiscriminatory. Because the network is shared at the neighborhood level, the company said, it must manage the flow of Internet traffic to ensure that Web access is not slowed.

A new study from the University of Washington suggests that media industry trade groups are using flawed tactics in their investigations of users who violate copyrights on peer-to-peer (“P2P”) file sharing networks.

Those trade groups send universities and other network operators an increasing number of takedown notices each year, asserting that their intellectual property rights have been violated under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

Many universities pass those letters directly on to students without questioning the veracity of the allegations. The Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”), in particular, follows up some of those notices by threatening legal action and forcing reported file-sharers into a financial settlement.

But the study, released last month by researchers at the University of Washington, argues that perhaps those takedown notices should be viewed more skeptically.

The paper finds that there is a serious flaw in how these trade groups finger reported file sharers. It suggests that some people might be getting improperly accused of sharing copyrighted content, and could even be purposely framed by other users.

In two separate studies in August 2007 and May of this year, the researchers set out to examine who was participating in BitTorrent file-sharing networks and what they were sharing. The researchers introduced software agents into these networks to monitor their traffic. Even though those software agents did not download any files, the researchers say they received more than 400 take-down requests accusing them of participating in the downloads.

The researchers concluded that enforcement agencies are looking only at IP addresses of participants on these P2P networks, and not what files are actually downloaded or uploaded ' a more resource-intensive process that would nevertheless yield more conclusive information.

FCC Orders Comcast to
Cease Blocking Large Files

Comcast has been testing new technologies that would slow the transmission of Internet files for its biggest users by as much as 20 minutes during times of heavy network congestion. But the nation's largest cable provider has promised not to target specific content, such as video files that compete with its cable television business.

The tests come as the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) late last month released an order that forces Comcast to stop its earlier efforts to block transmission of certain Internet files; a ruling that public interest groups hailed, saying it would prevent network operators from acting as gatekeepers of the Web.

In a 67-page order, the FCC said Comcast violated the FCC's Internet Policy Statement by interfering with customers' use of peer-to-peer (“P2P”) applications, specifically BitTorrent, an open-source peer-to-peer application.

FCC Slams Comcast

The FCC pulled no punches against Comcast in its order, saying Comcast was not forthcoming about its network-management practices, and changed its story about when and why it monitors and blocks network traffic. The agency also said it has evidence that Comcast:

• Blocked customers using little bandwidth because they were using BitTorrent;
• Blocked customers using BitTorrent and other P2P applications when there was no network congestion; and
• Blocked access in regions far from heavy traffic.

In the order, the FCC concluded that Comcast's earlier management of Internet traffic was discriminatory and “inconsistent with the concept of an open and accessible Internet.”

After public hearings and several months of investigations, the agency said Comcast had looked into the packets of Internet files being transferred between users and deliberately blocked certain files.

The commission said Comcast had an “anticompetitive motive” because it delayed and blocked peer-to-peer files through applications such as BitTorrent. Such files often are high-quality video that might otherwise be watched and paid for on cable television.

The agency gave Comcast 30 days to provide details on how it manages Web traffic and come up with a plan describing how it will stop the practice.

So Says the Commission

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin wrote in a statement that the order was “another important step to ensure that all consumers have unfettered access to the Internet.” He compared Comcast's blocking of Internet content to the post office secretly opening mail and deciding not to send it.

Martin, a Republican, voted with the two Democratic commissioners, Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein, to adopt the order against Comcast. The other two Republican commissioners, Robert M. McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate, voted against the order.

Commissioner McDowell, who sided with Comcast, said the FCC adopted the Internet Policy Statement as a general guideline, not to serve as enforceable rules. He also said there are no rules in place governing Internet network management.

“If Congress had wanted us to regulate Internet network management, it would have said so explicitly in the statue,” McDowell said.

Comcast has maintained that management of traffic among its 14.4 million Internet users is nondiscriminatory. Because the network is shared at the neighborhood level, the company said, it must manage the flow of Internet traffic to ensure that Web access is not slowed.

A new study from the University of Washington suggests that media industry trade groups are using flawed tactics in their investigations of users who violate copyrights on peer-to-peer (“P2P”) file sharing networks.

Those trade groups send universities and other network operators an increasing number of takedown notices each year, asserting that their intellectual property rights have been violated under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

Many universities pass those letters directly on to students without questioning the veracity of the allegations. The Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”), in particular, follows up some of those notices by threatening legal action and forcing reported file-sharers into a financial settlement.

But the study, released last month by researchers at the University of Washington, argues that perhaps those takedown notices should be viewed more skeptically.

The paper finds that there is a serious flaw in how these trade groups finger reported file sharers. It suggests that some people might be getting improperly accused of sharing copyrighted content, and could even be purposely framed by other users.

In two separate studies in August 2007 and May of this year, the researchers set out to examine who was participating in BitTorrent file-sharing networks and what they were sharing. The researchers introduced software agents into these networks to monitor their traffic. Even though those software agents did not download any files, the researchers say they received more than 400 take-down requests accusing them of participating in the downloads.

The researchers concluded that enforcement agencies are looking only at IP addresses of participants on these P2P networks, and not what files are actually downloaded or uploaded ' a more resource-intensive process that would nevertheless yield more conclusive information.