F.C.C. to Investigate Complaints Comcast Interferes With Net Traffic

[engine]

The Federal Communications Commission will investigate complaints that Comcast actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online, the commission's chairman, Kevin J. Martin, said Tuesday.

The F.C.C.’s response will be an important test of its willingness to enforce “net neutrality,” the principle that Internet traffic be treated equally by carriers. The agency has a broadly stated policy supporting the concept, but its position has not been tested in a real-world case.

F.C.C. to Investigate Complaints Comcast Interferes With Net Traffic [nytimes.com]

Earlier stories
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]

[Clark]

I think Time Warner and Cox do it too. Speak to some Vonage reps. They say they know when it happens because they get tons of calls from the same area by people saying that their internet is working totally fine and normal, but vonage calls don't go through.

In fact, I've had that very problem with Cox just after they came out with their own internet phone. It starting acting very weird.

[SEOMike]

So that's why my Vonage phone doesn't work sometimes... stupid time warner.

[prfb]

Not exactly the same, but Comcast shut down my internet connection at home because of too much uploading. When we called, they restored the service but said they do it to prevent file sharing. Nevermind that I was using an online remote backup service. Grrr.

I don't like relying on an external drive -- which is equally likely as my laptop to be destroyed in the Bay Area's next earthquake / flood / fire -- but now I do.

[walkman]

Future Headline: "After a 3 year investigation Comcast paid a $1.1 million fine to settle allegations that...Comcast, through it's spokesman made it clear that the company admitted no wrong doing..."

cost of doing business and everyone feels happy as it seems that someone is doing something

[aleksl]

but Comcast shut down my internet connection at home

Yes, they do that.

Comcast shuts down HTTP traffic on port 25 when they "think" it is too heavy. HTTPS, email and other protocols still work. This happens all the time, sometimes several times a day, sometimes a couple of times per week. Cable modem reset helps in that case.

Obviously, we don't do any file sharing, just normal business operations.

[rise2it]

Walkman hit in right on the head with his comment.