Comcast CTO promises to re-examine policies and stop restricting P2P and possibly other content types; FCC chairman plans to continue investigation.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cable operator Comcast Corp. promised on
Thursday to change how it manages its network in response to
accusations it blocks some Internet file-sharing services because they
require large amounts of bandwidth.
But Comcast's move did not go far enough to satisfy the top U.S.
communications regulator. Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, vowed to continue investigating the
management practices of broadband providers and whether they
discriminate against certain applications.
Comcast, which has more than 13 million broadband subscribers, said
it would adopt a new technique for managing capacity on its network by
the end of 2008. The new practice will not discriminate among different
applications.
The cable giant has been accused by consumer groups of blocking some
file-sharing services, such as BitTorrent, that distribute TV shows and
movies on the Internet.
"This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network
management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management
technique that is more appropriate for today's emerging Internet
trends," according to quotes attributed to Comcast Chief Technology Officer Tony Werner said in a published statement.
Comcast said it planned a "collaborative effort" with BitTorrent and
the broader Internet and ISP community to work out a growing dispute
over how far Internet service providers should go in managing traffic
moving over their networks.
The dispute over so-called "net neutrality" pits open- Internet
advocates against some service providers such as Comcast, which say
they need to take reasonable steps to manage growing traffic on their
networks.
The FCC has been investigating complaints from consumer groups that
Comcast blocked some file-sharing services. The issue also has
attracted scrutiny from lawmakers in Congress.
Comcast has denied
impairing any Internet applications and has said it merely manages the
system for the good of all users. But the FCC's Martin said at a March
7 FCC hearing he was disturbed Comcast did not disclose more to
customers and application developers about the way it manages network
traffic.
Comcast's announcement on Thursday drew a tepid response from Martin.
The FCC chairman said in a statement he was "pleased that Comcast
has reversed course." But he questioned why the company was not moving
more quickly to end the practice of blocking some applications.
"While it may take time to implement its preferred new traffic
management technique, it is not at all obvious why Comcast couldn't
stop its current practice of arbitrarily blocking its broadband
customers from using certain applications," Martin said.
The FCC is scheduled to hold another hearing on the issue at
Stanford University next month, where Martin said the commissioners
would "explore more fully what constitutes reasonable network
management practices."
Martin's two fellow Republicans on the five-member commission were
more upbeat about the Comcast move, saying a cooperative approach was
preferable to government regulation.
"The private sector is the best forum to resolve such disputes," said commissioner Robert McDowell.
But Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps agreed with Martin,
saying the FCC should continue to pursue the issue. He said Comcast's
concessions would not have come without pressure from the FCC.
"I am confident that, through this process, the FCC can come up with
clear rules of the road that will benefit American consumers and
provide much-needed certainty to both network operators and Internet
entrepreneurs," Copps said in a statement.
(Reporting by Peter Kaplan; Editing by Brian Moss/Andre Grenon)
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