This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz
by James Robertson.
Original Post: FCC Smackdown of Comcast?
Feed Title: Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants
Feed URL: http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/rssBlog/rssBlogView.xml
Feed Description: James Robertson comments on Cincom Smalltalk, the Smalltalk development community, and IT trends and issues in general.
I'm not generally in favor of government slamming companies, but I would like to see some transparency out of Comcast. Right now it looks like the FCC might force that:
The vote this past week for punishment by the FCC was 3 commissioners in favor, supporting sanctions of some kind. The remaining commissioners are expected to vote in the affirmative as well. How those punishments would be implemented isn't known since a stiff monetary fine is highly unlikely and would probably never fly in Congress. However, Comcast could be forced to completely stop all its efforts to curb P2P. They could also be mandated to publicly release all of its past efforts to block P2P and release, in writing, to all of its customers how it will manage its internet service in this regard for the future. Putting their P2P policies in a written contract would make it legally binding and could open the door for tough financial discipline from the FCC and Congress if broken, or even lawsuits from the company's millions of customers.
IMHO, it would be overkill (and likely nothing more than political theater) if Congress got involved. I would like to see Comcast explain what they've been doing and try to justify it in an honest fashion though. Sunshine in this area would be great.