Argues there are no "pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules" governing what constitutes proper network traffic management and therefore shouldn’t have to comply with the FCC’s ruling.
Comcast has formally filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking it to reverse a recent FCC ruling that ordered an end to "interference with connections of P2P applications."
According to David Cohen, Comcast’s executive VP, Comcast filed the appeal to protect its legal rights "and to challenge the basis on which the commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules."
"We continue to recognize that the commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures," continues Cohen in a statement. "However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the commission’s action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record.”
The FCC gave Comcast 30 days to disclose how it throttled BitTorrent, how it intends to stop doing so, and how it plans to alternatively address network traffic congestion in the future.
“Although we are seeking review and reversal of the commission’s network management order in federal court, we intend to comply fully with the requirements established in that order, which essentially codify the voluntary commitments that we have already announced, and to continue to act in accord with the commission’s Internet policy statement,” Comcast said.
Considering that many, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin included, observed that Comcast throttled BitTorrent at times when there shouldn’t have been any network bandwidth issues (i.e. nights, weekends) the issue isn’t so much about traffic management, but rather about the ISP freeing up bandwidth to sell by singling out BitTorrent users.
In the meantime, Comcast is already forging ahead with new network traffic management plans that include a scheduled 250GB data cap starting Oct 1st.
jared@zeropaid.com
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