Comcast To Stand broadband FCC Hearing

Comcast puts data in the event of discrimination.

Comcast was on the stand yesterday, is facing harsh scrutiny and pointed questioning of FCC commissioners during a summit held at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The issue: how is allowed to ISPs control their infrastructure from the FCC under the edict of “reasonable” management of the network, a term which, at present, is only vaguely defined. Clamor public prompted the FCC to revisit the issue when the AP discovered that last October with Comcast actively meddled P2P traffic by impersonating computer users - an unusual practice that many consider themselves above the law — in an effort to retain customers’ use of broadband.

Both during the summit and in earlier statements, Comcast defended their tactics when necessary to protect the quality of its customers’ collective experience of the Internet.

At one point, the FCC chairman Kevin Martin of the Commission requested Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen why his company felt it necessary to block customers P2P traffic when clients were acting within contractual limitations sold to them.

“Does that not undermine the argument that you are doing?” Asked Martin.

In response, Cohen read a list of frequently asked questions that the company offers to its clients, which cited that “Comcast may temporarily limited some delay when traffic P2P traffic that has or is projected to have an adverse effect on Other customers using the service. “

“I do not think that we are restricted customers to use the service in accordance with the way we are selling to them,” Cohen replied.

Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein followed by the press about management policies Comcast calls stricter rules against overly aggressive management of the network.

“Comcast does not block any Web site, application or protocol of the Web, including peer-to-peer services, the period,” said Cohen. “What we are doing is a limited form of network management objectively on the basis of excessive bandwidth consumption limited protocol during periods of network congestion.”

“Consumers need to know if the way the network and management practices to distinguish between different applications, so that customers can configure their own applications and systems properly,” said Martin in an introductory address [PDF]. “Consumers have complained that these practices [ISP] have not been transparent… these are very important issues. Gravity, and is one of the reasons why you are holding this hearing - to listen to all sides.”

Martin said that the summit was intended to address the issue with an open mind, and promised to withhold any action for the future.

“Hearing experts today, as commentators in the record, we can better control this market and determine the extent to which suppliers are acting in line with our [political Internet],” said Martin. “We can best fulfill those functions to be fully informed.”