mick silver
6th April 2010, 06:16 PM
so the court just passes it ON to the leaders of congress ............ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303411604575167782845712768.html?m od=rss_Today's_Most_Popular ...By AMY SCHATZ And BRENT KENDALL
WASHINGTON—A U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority when it sanctioned Comcast Corp. in 2008 for deliberately slowing Internet traffic for some users.
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Full Text: Opinion in Comcast vs. FCC
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Vote: Should Congress take up 'Net neutrality?'
.The unanimous decision is a blow to the FCC, which argued it had authority to police Internet providers and prevent them from blocking or slowing subscribers' Internet traffic. The victory is likely to spark efforts by the FCC and Congress to impose new rules on Comcast and other Internet providers. Major Internet providers will likely oppose such moves, particularly any effort by the FCC to apply rules to their Web services that were originally enacted to promote more competition in the land-line phone industry.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the FCC's demand, approved by a 3-2 vote, that Comcast stop slowing Web traffic. The court ruled that Congress hadn't given the FCC the power to regulate an Internet service provider's network-management practices.
The decision is a win for Comcast in a case that started when subscribers complained that the cable and Internet giant had slowed Web traffic for some customers who were downloading large files using peer-to-peer file-sharing services like BitTorrent. Comcast stopped the practice but went ahead with its challenge of the FCC's decision.
Tuesday's ruling could be a mixed blessing for Comcast and other Internet providers. U.S. President Barack Obama and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski have both supported the idea of "net neutrality" rules, which say all legal Internet traffic should be treated equally.
In September, Mr. Genachowski proposed new net neutrality rules to alleviate worries that the courts would say the agency hadn't jumped through the necessary regulatory hoops to bring enforcement actions. It isn't clear how the court's decision will affect those proposed rules.
The decision may also prompt Congress to get involved and debate legislation introduced last year that would give the FCC authority to regulate Internet providers.
After the court heard oral arguments in the Comcast case last fall, FCC officials began informally discussing what to do if they lost the case on jurisdictional grounds.
One option that Mr. Genachowski's aides are considering is applying rules that were written for the old phone system to Internet service providers. That change would give the FCC more obvious authority to police net-neutrality violations, but it would also likely spark a court challenge from Internet providers.
Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast, AT&T Inc. and other Internet providers oppose the idea of the FCC changing how they're regulated. They also argue that government regulators shouldn't be getting into the details of how they manage their networks.
In a brief statement Tuesday, Comcast said the court's decision would "have no impact on the experience of Internet users. Consumers are in the driver's seat in today's market-driven Internet ecosystem, and their interests remain fully protected."
Write to Amy Schatz at Amy.Schatz@wsj.com and Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@dowjones.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
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More In Tech
WASHINGTON—A U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority when it sanctioned Comcast Corp. in 2008 for deliberately slowing Internet traffic for some users.
Related
Digits: Winners and Losers in the Ruling
Full Text: Opinion in Comcast vs. FCC
.Journal Community
Vote: Should Congress take up 'Net neutrality?'
.The unanimous decision is a blow to the FCC, which argued it had authority to police Internet providers and prevent them from blocking or slowing subscribers' Internet traffic. The victory is likely to spark efforts by the FCC and Congress to impose new rules on Comcast and other Internet providers. Major Internet providers will likely oppose such moves, particularly any effort by the FCC to apply rules to their Web services that were originally enacted to promote more competition in the land-line phone industry.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the FCC's demand, approved by a 3-2 vote, that Comcast stop slowing Web traffic. The court ruled that Congress hadn't given the FCC the power to regulate an Internet service provider's network-management practices.
The decision is a win for Comcast in a case that started when subscribers complained that the cable and Internet giant had slowed Web traffic for some customers who were downloading large files using peer-to-peer file-sharing services like BitTorrent. Comcast stopped the practice but went ahead with its challenge of the FCC's decision.
Tuesday's ruling could be a mixed blessing for Comcast and other Internet providers. U.S. President Barack Obama and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski have both supported the idea of "net neutrality" rules, which say all legal Internet traffic should be treated equally.
In September, Mr. Genachowski proposed new net neutrality rules to alleviate worries that the courts would say the agency hadn't jumped through the necessary regulatory hoops to bring enforcement actions. It isn't clear how the court's decision will affect those proposed rules.
The decision may also prompt Congress to get involved and debate legislation introduced last year that would give the FCC authority to regulate Internet providers.
After the court heard oral arguments in the Comcast case last fall, FCC officials began informally discussing what to do if they lost the case on jurisdictional grounds.
One option that Mr. Genachowski's aides are considering is applying rules that were written for the old phone system to Internet service providers. That change would give the FCC more obvious authority to police net-neutrality violations, but it would also likely spark a court challenge from Internet providers.
Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast, AT&T Inc. and other Internet providers oppose the idea of the FCC changing how they're regulated. They also argue that government regulators shouldn't be getting into the details of how they manage their networks.
In a brief statement Tuesday, Comcast said the court's decision would "have no impact on the experience of Internet users. Consumers are in the driver's seat in today's market-driven Internet ecosystem, and their interests remain fully protected."
Write to Amy Schatz at Amy.Schatz@wsj.com and Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@dowjones.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com
More In Tech