The Federal Communications Commission recently ordered Comcast to stop blocking customers from sharing online videos and other large files on the Internet — because doing so violated federal policy.
The ruling came at a time when online providers are searching for new ways to relieve Web traffic jams. It was the first time the FCC has enforced open Internet access or "network neutrality" principles.
Comcast said it delays so-called "peer-to-peer" traffic from programs such asControlling crowded Web challenges ComcastBitTorrent, Gnutella, or eDonkey. Even then, the company said it only steps in when someone is trying to upload large files to the Internet. So consumers who watch a video on YouTube, download a movie from iTunes or Netflix or make a call using Skype are not affected.
In separate interviews with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an official from Comcast and a professor at Georgia Tech discussed whether the company is playing traffic cop or Big Brother.
Q: Could you boil this down for me? What's the basic issue here?
Waz: While we are constantly expanding the speed and capacity of our broadband networks, Internet traffic has exploded. To manage this congestion — as well as for things like spam, viruses, and spyware — all broadband providers have to manage their networks. Cable broadband is a shared network in the last mile, so a few users taking up a huge amount of upstream bandwidth can negatively affect the experience of other customers on the network.
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Originally Posted by Reppy
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