It comes as no surprise that Comcast is appealing last month’s FCC ruling that the cable company was illegally blocking peer-to-peer file sharing. Following the popular pioneering strategy of those who believe the rules just don’t apply to them – President Bush, Jersey drinkers in Old City – Comcast basically told the FCC that it can take its rules and fuck off. We think they didn’t like being called “outright discriminatory” in the FCC ruling.

Sadly, the FCC has loud bark but no bite, probably because they didn’t issue any actual rules, but merely four principles encouraging network neutrality that are “subject to reasonable network management.” Basically, like Techdirt says here, the ruling is “pointless and meaningless,” as it doesn’t punish Comcast for taking action that, had the FCC established its principles as rules, would have been illegal.

So why appeal? Well, nobody puts Baby in a corner. Cable has long operated in a gray area of FCC regulations, hence all the boobies, “fucks” and violence in The Sopranos, for example. Comcast doesn’t want the FCC mucking around in the bones of its network anymore than it wants the FCC to file indecency charges against it for airing Billy Madison before 10 pm. Probably even less.

In theory, the FCC is supposed to be making companies like Comcast pretend that at least a portion of what they do is in the public interest. Comcast wants to act like all it does is to get shareholders rich. And here, friends, is the great media debate: Should Comcast be able to sell a service to you that works fine unless they decide that you’re using a program that they don’t like? Or should the service, you know, do what it promises? Is the FCC pro-business or pro-public interest? For Comcast, it’s not about the wrist slap, it’s about being able to take your money and deny you service if it feels like it. For now, they’re going to let you still use your dirty torrent programs, but they’re gonna cap your unlimited downloads at 250 GB per month. Which sounds like a lot, but wait until next year, after all your TV shows are online in HD.

Give these people money and write your Congressman. Although we’re not sure Bob Brady knows about our series of tubes.

New York Times: Comcast Says Rules Are For Homos
Free Press Action Fund: Save The Internet! No, Really, We Mean It!
Previously: Speak Of The Devil: Comcast Now Openly Cockblocking UR Netz LULZ
Previously: BitGate® Update: Messing With Your Google Is Now Comcastic?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 3:15 pm.