A Blow to Net Neutrality

A federal appeals court found in favor of Comcast, allowing the company to restrict the bandwidth used by certain customers. This is a fantastic ruling in favor of property rights and against the FCC.

Consumer advocates said the ruling, one of several that have challenged the F.C.C.’s regulatory reach, could also undermine all of the F.C.C.’s efforts to regulate Internet service providers and establish its authority over the Internet, including its recently released national broadband plan.

“This decision destroys the F.C.C.’s authority to build broadband policy on the legal theory established by the Bush administration,” said Ben Scott, the policy director for Free Press, a nonprofit organization that advocates broad media ownership and access. [emphasis mine]

Amen to that. Of course Members of Congress disagrees:

While the decision is a victory for Comcast, it also has the potential to affect the company’s pending acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal.

Members of Congress have expressed concern that the acquisition could give Comcast the power to favor the content of its own cable and broadcast channels over those of competitors, something that Comcast has said it does not intend to do. Now, members of Congress could also fret that Comcast will also block or slow down customers’ access to the Web sites of competing television and telecommunications companies.

Why shouldn't Comcast be allowed to favor the content it owns, broadcast on equipment it owns, to consumers who have voluntarily agreed to purchase its use? If allowing competition is what they really care about, how about eliminating municipally granted monopolies to cable companies (and communications companies, and energy companies...)? The FCC weighs in on not being able to be tyrannical enough:

In a statement, the F.C.C. said it remained “firmly committed to promoting an open Internet.” While the court decision invalidated its current approach to that goal, the agency said, “the court in no way disagreed with the importance of providing a free and open Internet, nor did it close the door to other methods for achieving this important end.”

At whose expense is the internet provided? Not the FCC's. Comcast provides the means for internet use to its customers who can choose a competing internet provider at any time. How the FCC can force net neutrality on a company while calling it freedom is beyond me.