Washington, D.C. – Comcast today filed a complaint in the DC Court of Appeals, challenging the FCC’s August 20 conclusion that the cable Internet service provider’s approach to slowing down Internet connections violates federal policies. The outcome of this complaint is unclear, as the company also said that it will comply with the FCC’s request to provide details about its network management techniques.   

Final rulings in the U.S. justice system often take time and the dispute between consumers, the FCC and Comcast are no exception. Comcast’s complaint filed today in the DC Court of Appeals, DC’s highest Court, alleges that the FCC’s findings process was inappropriate. While the company said that it will “fully comply” with the FCC order, which will include a change to its network management practices by the end of the year, today’s filing seems to be unhappy about the way the conclusion was formed.

In a statement, executive vice president David Cohen said that Comcast "filed this appeal in order to protect [Comcast’s] legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the [FCC] found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules." Cohen conceded that the FCC has jurisdiction over ISPs - a much disputed topic in the past, at least as far as the FCC can enforce actions not only under law, but also principles – but stated that Comcast is now “seeking review and reversal of the Commission's network management order in federal court.” The DC Court of Appeals, which includes one chief judge and eight associate judges, has jurisdiction over FCC orders.

Some media reports, including this one form the Wall Street Journal, said that Comcast’s move was to be expected, but even under such a consideration, the complaint appears to be more a rebellious move to show the public eye how unfair Comcast was treated by the FCC. But at first sight, this filing seems to be a rather cheap way to drag the little dispute out a bit further, while it is apparent that the FCC ruling includes generous guidelines for Comcast to easily push through future network management features. In the background, however, it is also clear that the FCC ruling sets a precedent for potential future network management rulings. Even the generous guidelines provided by the FCC may be beyond the comfort level of Internet service providers.

Considering the sharp language the FCC chose in its August 20 ruling, the orders are merely a soft slap for Comcast.  According to the FCC, Comcast “misleadingly disclaimed any responsibility for the customers’ [bandwidth] problems” and found that “the record leaves no doubt that Comcast’s network management practices discriminate among applications and protocols rather than treating all equal.” In its conclusion of the August 20 order, the FCC wrote that Comcast’s “practice is not ‘minimally intrusive’ but invasive and outright discriminatory”.

The resulting order requires Comcast to disclose details about its network management practices, the submission of a compliance plan to the FCC as well as the transition to a reasonable network management approach by the end of the year.

Lost in Translation

Sep 04, 2008 16:06     

"Comcast “misleadingly disclaimed any responsibility for the customers’ [bandwidth] problems”" translation: they were doing something, and then they lied That's a double-whammy!
Hax Or report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +3

What ever happend to you get waht you paid for.

Sep 05, 2008 10:46     

I think throttling is the least of Comcast's sins. I pay for a 6 Mb/s connection that has Speed Boost for 10 Mb/s for the first so many seconds (see below for why I don't remember the exact time) of a large file. This is false on two fronts. First my network monitor shows a max transfer rate of 4 Mb/s. And, second, I don't see any Speed Boost at all. If I paid for 6 Mb/s I should get it every second of the day and every day of the month. It's what I paid for. If Comcast overbooked that's their problem. They can't throttle someone for using bandwidth they paid for. They already throttle the speed and that's how their plans are tiered. There's no mention of MB of transfer volume.

Paul123 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Don't support it ?...

Sep 05, 2008 18:44     

Don't support it ?
Dan.B report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Comcast being unfair to consumers

Sep 06, 2008 17:15     

Honestly, I think everyone should make a complaint to the FCC and other government reps. I sent a complaint to the Chairman and other board members of the FCC. I have even written to my congresswoman. The 250 GB limit is not customer friendly. Let the customers voice their anger.
Jason K report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0