Internet Users Stop Comcast, Net Neutrality Win on the Horizon
July 11th, 2008 by tkarrFederal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is taking action against Comcast for illegally violating Net Neutrality, after a coalition of Net users and activists caught the cable giant blocking open access to the Internet.
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Topolski Ignites the Fire |
Martin told the Associated Press last night that Comcast had “arbitrarily” blocked Internet access and failed to disclose to consumers what it was doing. “We found that Comcast’s actions in this instance violated our principles.”
The move is the agency’s response to a complaint filed by Free Press and members of SavetheInternet.com, which called for severe action against Comcast for jamming people using popular “file-sharing” applications. But the story goes back further than that.
Organized People Beat Organized Money
Martin’s action — to be voted on by the full FCC in three weeks – would be a major milestone for the growing open Internet movement, marking another defeat of entrenched corporate interests in Washington and a stunning victory for ordinary people who want to control their Internet experience.
If adopted by the FCC, Martin’s order could set an historic precedent for protecting the future of the open Internet. Against every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, everyday citizens and consumer advocates have taken on a major corporation and won a major victory.
The decision follows nearly a year of organizing and action by a growing alliance of bloggers, Internet innovators, consumer groups, organizations from across the political spectrum, and Net activists from all walks of life.
In that time, tens of thousands of people wrote the FCC in support of Net Neutrality after Free Press filed its complaint against Comcast and asked the agency to levy the largest fine in its history.
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Comcast’s Sleeper Cell |
Hundreds of others packed public hearings to speak out against would-be gatekeepers (even after Comcast notoriously attempted to keep them out by hiring drowsy seat warmers in Boston).
The Power of One
But it all started with one person. When barbershop quartet enthusiast Robb Topolski found Comcast was preventing him from sharing legal music files with other fans, he took to his computer and launched a one-man investigation.
Topolski uncovered conclusive evidence that Comcast was secretly blocking his uploads. His concerns echoed those of hundreds of other Comcast users, who had taken to the blogs and chat rooms to express their dismay.
He posted his findings on a single tech blog. This had a cascading effect, and soon dozens of others were writing about his findings. The Associated Press and the Electronic Frontier Foundation conducted their own investigations with similar results. The evidence was indisputable: Comcast was blocking the Internet.
The wheels of government started churning. This time for the better.
The Fight Continues
Martin’s move is a major victory. But this fight is far from over. His order has yet to pass, though it seems likely. The cable companies — and the phone companies, too, even though they’re trying to distance themselves from Comcast — will be back with their money, lawyers and phony grassroots groups to try to take control of the Internet and establish themselves as gatekeepers.
Companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to lobby Washington to gut Net Neutrality and hand over control of the Internet to them. But they so far have failed to overcome widespread and organized public opposition.
Today we can celebrate a huge victory for real people, but we need to continue this fight to send a clear signal to the next Congress and White House that standing with regular people for a free and open Internet is a winning proposition.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Maybe not. At a press conference today, Chairman Martin said he’s not recommending any fines against Comcast.
I suggest you correct your post.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Fines aren’t the point, Richard.
As I wrote: “Martin’s action — to be voted on by the full FCC in three weeks — would be a major milestone for the growing open Internet movement, marking another defeat of entrenched corporate interests in Washington and a stunning victory for ordinary people who want to control their Internet experience.
“If adopted by the FCC, Martin’s order could set an historic precedent for protecting the future of the open Internet. Against every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, everyday citizens and consumer advocates have taken on a major corporation and won a major victory.”
Legal precedent is the point. This is a major validation of Net Neutrality as an operating principle — and a serious rebuke of Comcast and others, like you, who think their blocking actions are “reasonable.”
July 11th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
How can you term a completely moot regulatory action as a “major” anything, Tim? The corrected press reports say the Chairman is going to order Comcast to do nothing more or less than what it’s already told the public it’s doing anyway: they’re adopting a traffic management system that’s going to control P2P uploads in a different but equally effective way, and they’re already changed their terms of service.
So Martin’s order is like ordering your cat to take a nap after it’s already sleeping.
Nothing major about it, just politics as usual.
And everybody knows that an order in the absence of a rule-making won’t stand up in court, so it’s doubly silly.
The FCC should do its job and define “reasonable network management” in clear and unambiguous terms. Until that’s done, this is all nothing but theater.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
The FCC has made a clear statement in favor of Net Neutrality, and against the type of discriminatory “network management” that Comcast — and Richard Bennett — first claimed wasn’t happening at all.
After being shown that it was, Comcast then heralded such blocking as normal and acceptable procedure — and something that was beyond the jurisdiction of the FCC. Not so.
Martin’s order serves not only as a rebuke of Comcast’s position, but also as a clear warning to other network operators who might seek to dabble in such discriminatory gatekeeping.
Martin told reporters today that Comcast should be sanctioned for failing to engage in “reasonable” management of its network. This was a clean victory for Net Neutrality. There now are solid prospects that the agency will make the order enforceable when the five commissioners meet on Aug 1.
But it goes beyond Comcast.
What this would mean is that the Internet is a mass medium with a legal guarantee of access without your network provider blocking or degrading your connection. This is a precedent-setting moment, that has sent a powerful warning shot across the bow of all ISPs that might harbor gatekeeper ambitions.
Free Press’ filings have made it clear that our number one priority is putting an end to the harmful blocking by a date certain, in order to protect a free-flowing Internet and to stop companies like Comcast from getting between us and what we want to do on the Web.
We will soon have grounds to bring similar complaints to the FCC’s attention, and confidence that the agency will take action.
July 12th, 2008 at 5:47 am
You know, Tim, I think you’re absolutely right, this is a tremendous victory for the People over the powerful, and it satisfies the purpose for which Save the Internet was formed: the Internet has been saved from the greedy capitalists who unfairly discriminate against movie pirates and bandwidth hogs.
Clearly, this is such an enormous and unprecedented victory that all the advocates of an unmanaged Internet - the Tron guy, Alyssa Milano, Rob Topolski, and the naked girl from Belgium - can party like it’s 1999.
So great is this victory and so complete is the FCC’s complete spanking of Comcast, that there’s no need for Save the Internet to continue. You’ve won, so your work is done.
So show us you’re serious by shutting down STI and going back to your day jobs.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Thanks Richard. But we still have loads more work to do.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Indeed, Tim Karr, saving the Internet from monopoly control, gatekeeping, and abuse of privacy is a never-ending task, one for which the services of a permanent watchdog are needed. At this very moment, a deal is pending that would create a monopoly for the Internet’s most vital function in favor of a company with little regard for privacy and a willingness to cooperate with the dictates of authoritarian governments, even changing facts to suit their masters.
I’m referring, of course, to the consolidation of Internet search and search advertising through the Google-Yahoo deal. And I hope STI will join me in saving the Internet from this horrible deal.
And independent watchdog that’s not a tool of the corporations involved in this deal would certainly be front and center in raising questions about it.
Is STI that watchdog?
July 13th, 2008 at 2:55 am
[…] by sending fake packets. F.C.C. Chief Backs Sanctions Against Comcast Over Blocking - NYTimes.com Save the Internet Blog Blog Archive Internet Users Stop Comcast, Net Neutrality Win on the Horizon mtnl,bsnl,airtel,sify are resting p2p packets. By having this verdict we should send letters to […]
July 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Internet Users Stop Comcast, Net Neutrality Win on the Horizon…
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is taking action against Comcast for illegally violating Net Neutrality, after a coalition of Net users and activists caught the cable giant blocking open access to the Internet….