FCC Orders Comcast To End P2P Blocking

In a 3-2 vote the FCC has ruled against Comcast in its P2P blocking decision, which means that Comcast must cease blocking internet access and disclose its internet traffic managing practices to its customers. The FCC imposed no fines against Comcast, nor does it rule against data caps by ISPs in general.

``Today, the commission tells Comcast to stop, and to disclose to its subscribers how it is going to manage traffic,'' FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a meeting in Washington. ``The commission will remain vigilant in protecting consumers' access to content on the Internet.''

But critics were vocal about the FCC's attempts to regulate the internet, even though the consumers appear to win out on this ruling. Whether the FCC has the legal authority to tell ISPs what to do with their traffic is also in question.

``The FCC is poised for massive, unprecedented regulation of the Internet,'' U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Missouri said in a statement before the vote. ``This dangerous path would limit freedom, stifle innovation and entrepreneurship, and kill American jobs.''

So here we are again: Free Press and Media Access Project slammed Comcast for "degrading innovative protocols" for large file transfers and for specifically pinching off the BitTorrent protocol. Comcast, of course, says it's never done any such thing.

Somebody's lying...

Comcast Ordered by FCC to Stop Blocking Web Access (Update1) [Bloomberg]
[via Gizmodo]