Internet Provider As Gatekeeper: FCC Mulls The Limits

A look at the challenges facing the Federal Communications Commission as the agency seeks to more clearly define the boundary between acceptable network management and anti-competitive behavior. The line is constantly being blurred by new technologies and innovations that are often unforeseen and not easily categorized. The main course on the FCC’s neutrality plate involves a complaint filed by Free Press and another advocacy group, Public Knowledge, alleging that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, blocked customers from uploading content to BitTorrent, a file-sharing site featuring movies, music, television shows and video games. The FCC is expected to rule on the petition this summer. Blair Levin, managing director at the investment firm Stifel Nicolaus, expects the FCC to declare that Comcast erred in blocking BitTorrent and that the firm should have been more transparent about its policies -- but to stop short of imposing fines. Levin expects the FCC to dodge what he considers the thorniest issue in the debate: whether broadband companies can establish Internet toll lanes featuring premium content with faster download speeds. “I don't think we'll see anything that goes to that question, and that’s – at the end of the day – the big divide,” he said.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cd_20080707_1984.php