FCC Expected to Rule Against Comcast's Web Video Blocking

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to rule on Friday against Comcast over violating federal policy by deliberately preventing some customers sharing video files online.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Comcast admitted "delaying" traffic to file sharing sites and services like BitTorrent but deemed the measure as necessary for user who overburden the company's network.

(Here is a FAQ on Comcast vs. BitTorrent)

FCC is set to require Comcast to stop interfering in the user's online habits and to better disclose its practices to customers. Meanwhile, the measure will likely have a ripple effect making other large Internet service providers think twice before they try implementing similar bandwidth metering techniques.

In October 2007 Comcast was accused of blocking some of its users from using peer-to-peer (P2P) services. USA's largest cable provider argued the accusations by claiming that a small number of users were using a disproportionate amount of bandwidth and the measure was "reasonable."

Despite several bandwidth-blocking related lawsuits against Comcast, the company has not be punished for its actions that some customers and Internet neutrality proponents find reprehensible. Meanwhile, the FCC has told the cable giant to stop the blocking policy and provide details of its practice.

CREDIT: PC World contributor Daniel Ionescu filed this blog.

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