FCC Reviewing Comcast Broadband Abuses

Posted April 17, 2008, 10:05 p.m.

Reuters reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reviewing Comcast’s questionable practice of blocking some Internet traffic and whether it is ‘reasonable’. Good.

But, as I have said before, ‘Net Neutrality’ needs to be enshrined in honest-to-goodness law, not just protected by the transient decree of an unelected (and largely unaccountable) commission. The Internet and companies that have spawned from it (Amazon, Google, etc.) have relied on a network that treats all data in a random, equitable fashion. Every bit and byte of information—whether it’s a news web site, iTunes music file, BitTorrent transfer, or software download—is treated the same.

Internet providers like Comcast have a responsibility to provide their customers with ‘virgin’, unfettered network access. Many Republicans claim that Net Neutrality legislation would go against their free-market inclinations, but—on the contrary—it is a neutral net that facilitates the modern, networked free market.

The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Web.com.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.

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