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Comcast Says FCC Powerless to Stop P2P Blocking
Nanoboy writes "Even if the FCC finds that Comcast has violated its Internet Policy Statement, it's utterly powerless to do anything about it, according to a recent filing by the cable giant. Comcast argues that Congress has not given the FCC the authority to act, that the Internet Policy Statement doesn't give it the right to deal with the issue, and that any FCC action would violate the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946. '"The congressional policy and agency practice of relying on the marketplace instead of regulation to maximize consumer welfare has been proven by experience (including the Comcast customer experience) to be enormously successful," concludes Comcast VP David L. Cohen's thinly-veiled warning to the FCC, filed on March 11. "Bearing these facts in mind should obviate the need for the Commission to test its legal authority."'"
IANAL, but...
Comcast: "The FCC can bite my shiny metal ass. Nyah, nyah, nyah!!!!"
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
So Comcast is basically saying "Even if we're breaking rules you can't do anything about it"?
I can imagine a Comcast rep at an FCC meeting doing a Nelson-esque "HA-HA!"...
Comcast: "Hey, FCC, I know that you're generally not wanting to regulate us cable companies, so why not just let us go?"
FCC: "Hmm, any chance of backing that up with a law somewhere?"
Comcast: "How about this one? Just say we're being regulated by 'market forces'."
FCC: "But you're a regulated monopoly! That'll never fly!"
Comcast: "Weren't you going to run for office? Here's a 'donation' to your 'exploratory committee'."
FCC: "Sounds good. The free market wins again!"
If I had mod points, you'd get them.
activestudios web design
Hah. My favorite version of that line.
[someone slips and falls]
me: Is there a lawyer in the house?
lawyer: [stands up, raises hand] Here, good sir!
me: *BANG!*
lawyer: Gah! [drops dead]
me: Now do we have anyone from marketing?
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
"a single user can easily transmit 20 GB of data in a day."
Only if he is freely provided with the bandwidth promised by the ISP. Now are you saying he should not be able to use this bandwidth? There are plenty of legal uses for P2P so your sweeping statements just come across as ridiculous and ignorant.
The problem is simple: the company has made bandwidth promises to more people than it can handle on its lines. This is analogous to an airline promising everyone a seat on a plane in exchange for X dollars, but then when everyone who was promised a seat actually shows up for the flight (*gasp*), the airline kicks off the fat people, and tells everyone else to share seats. Now at this point any reasonable person would demand a refund and go to another airline. The problem in this situation is that there is no other airline. Your only option is to pick up and move to another location. Ask the government how this situation came about.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The stove pipes have been torn down. There is no division between government and private networks and data. Comcast's defiance of the FCC is an illusion because other elements in the government want Comcast to censor the net. It's the next logical step: awareness, control, dominance. Independent minded bloggers and a free internet threatened the Manufactured Consent model of US policy making.
The US is moving to a censored and controlled network faster than you think.
That's when she'd leave and demand a refund :p
You could try satellite. I got mine initially because AT&T (pre-Comcast) still had an A/B switch for analog cable and it still cost more than digital satellite. It was a no brainer.
I talk to some coworkers about this, and the conversation sometimes goes:
"Comcast cable isn't very good, but using it gives gets me a discount on their internet."
"Is their internet better than my DSL?"
"No, it sucks too, but using it gives me a discount on their phone service."
"Is their phone service good?"
"No, it sucks, but using it gives me a discount on their cable."