Zoom Complaint Against Comcast is Reason For FCC To Act

Modem manufacturer Zoom Telephonics filed a complaint at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Comcast, setting out a string of facts which show that the media giant is restricting consumer access to innovative devices by controlling the approval process for cable modems.

According to the complaint, the requirements are “unreasonable, irrelevant, time-consuming and costly.” The requirements ranged from paying tens of thousands of dollars for duplicative testing and related expenses (including business class air fare and expensive hotels), to requiring the company to meet standards far in excess of normal consumer electronics needs which have no bearing on whether the cable network would be harmed (including weight, labeling, packaging, waxes to be applied) to “arbitrarily refusing” to test one of Zoom’s modems for distribution. With Comcast controlling about 40 percent of the national cable market, Zoom said, Comcast’s approval is necessary in order to sell their products. Comcast is the only cable operator of which Zoom is aware that charges manufacturers for independent testing. Zoom told the FCC that by its practices, Comcast was violating both the Communications Act and the FCC’s open Internet principles.

Public Knowledge, Free Press and MAP said that the complaint shows that Comcast is continuing its pattern of anti-competitive behavior that it showed in throttling the BitTorrent protocol, and that the proceedings show the need for binding open Internet policies that guarantee the right of consumers to attach devices which don't harm the network.