Comcast: No new traffic management plan yet

Comcast has made no final decisions on how to manage network congestion, despite news reports Wednesday that it will slow traffic for heavy users for up to 20 minutes during times of peak network use. Asked why Comcast doesn't slow all users' traffic during times of congestion, Douglas said it's not fair to subscribers who aren't clogging up the pipes. "It's the heaviest of users that are directly contributing to the degradation of the service for the other people on the network," he said. Representatives of Free Press and Public Knowledge, two digital rights advocacy groups that filed a complaint against Comcast for slowing P-to-P traffic, expressed reservations about Comcast's apparent new direction. "It's an interesting reflection on the claim that there is a free market for broadband," said Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge. "If there was competition, could you slow down your best customers?" Comcast was "dishonest" in the past about its network management practices, added Ben Scott, Free Press policy director. The broadband provider originally denied it was degrading BitTorrent streams. "We have to be skeptical and vigilant," Scott said. "The FCC has required them to disclose all the details -- so we look forward to seeing that before we can fully evaluate. Any move that doesn't involve blocking consumers' access to the Internet is a positive step -- but we won't know for sure about this particular practice until we see the details."