Legal Research

FCC Cannot Regulate the Internet

By David

For those of you interested in the regulation of the Internet, here is an interesting decision. In Comcast Corp. v. FCC, the court considered whether the FCC could bar Comcast from interfering with its customers’ use of peer-to-peer networking applications.  Peer-to-peer programs allow users to share large files directly with one another without going through a central server. Such programs also consume significant amounts of bandwidth. The  underlying case centers on Comcast’s actions in 2007 when it interfered with an online file-sharing service called BitTorrent, which allows users to swap big files such as movies over the Internet. The subscribers filed suit. The FCC issued an Order requiring COMCAST to give equal tratment  to all interent traffic.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated the order and ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks. STAY TUNED! There will be more on this issue in the near future.

See  http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/201004/08-1291-1238302.pdf  for a copy of the decision.

 See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/technology/07net.html  for more discussion. (Post-DEL)

Full post as published by Cocky Law Blawg on April 06, 2010 (boomark / email).