The Associated Press says the Federal Communications Commission will investigate complaints that Comcast Corp. actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online.
This should be very interesting. One one hand, there's an issue about packet blocking. On the other hand there is an issue of exposure to copyright law, since much peer-to-peer traffic that Comcast and others appear to be blocking infringes copyright laws.
A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars asked the agency in November to stop Comcast from discriminating against certain types of data. Two groups also asked the FCC to fine Comcast at a rate of $195,000 for every affected subscriber.
It is possible there are two intertwined issues here: packet blocking and copyright violations. The former might be technologically necessary to prevent the latter.
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