Comcast Has Quite A Week: Gets In Trouble For Blocking Content And For NOT Blocking Content
from the can't-win dept
It's been quite a week for Comcast, hasn't it? First, under a baseless legal threat from Andrew Cuomo that it was not blocking certain objectionable content, Comcast caved and agreed to start blocking that content. Then, just a few days later, the FCC (as was widely expected) concludes that Comcast violated its "open internet" guidelines by blocking certain content. So, apparently, the mixed message lessons of the day for Comcast: it's okay to block content when the government says so (with no legal basis), but it's not okay when you block stuff yourself (or so says the government, perhaps with no legal basis). Whatever you may think of the results of all of this, you'd have to forgive Comcast for not particularly liking politicians meddling in its services.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: blocking content, fcc, traffic shaping
Companies: comcast
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
First.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
And then no.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Err...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Branded Community & Shell Entities
Shell Entities.
Comcast sucks, they suck big Shell Entities
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A Shell Entity of CORPORATIONS which are nothing but a bunch of Patent trolls roaming the Earth.
I can't wait for the day that politicians understand the difference between "For the People... " and "For the Corporations... "
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Marios' Little Boy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Marios' Little Boy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Don't Blame Comcast
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Don't Blame Comcast
First of all, Comcast caved into Cuomo's threats despite them not holding any water, regardless of what adverse affect it might have on their customers (after all, no filter is perfect). Had Comcast refused to respond, Cuomo wouldn't have had a leg to stand on and they wouldn't have made themselves look terrible to all of their customers.
Second of all, that definitely doesn't excuse Comcast's history of filtering their customer's connections. I actually prefer having a slower, yet less restricted, DSL connection (3Mbps/512Kbps) than having a fast yet questionable cable connection (when I lived in Maryland, I got 8Mbps/1Mbps through Comcast but found myself completely unable to seed legal torrents until I put a heavy-handed firewall between my network and theirs).
Long story short: yes, I blame Comcast.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The idea that you feel that file sharing is somehow violating freedom, and the pursuit of happiness is hilarious.
Be careful how you use the term violators. I'm sure that there are things that you do in your daily routine that I can find laws against. Such as spitting outside, having sex in any position other than missionary, oral sex, being naked in front of your children, etc. The list goes on and on. Granted, I have no idea where you live, but I bet it is in the US. So be careful how you use words... Karma has way there too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
That statement sir makes you a moron.
It isn't file sharing that's the true complaint its the illegal tactics used to catch those people. Such as coming into their homes to take their computers based on false information to sue them.
The RIAA is responsible for so many illegal activities its not even funny. How many people have they sued based on false information? They demand information from your ISP (personal information...who the hell do they think they are to ignore the fact that they would need a warrant to do such a thing) and meanwhile their actions are ignored by the government because...tada corporate america. Its total crap and I can't wait for the day it happens to you while your scratching your balls trying to figure out wtf is going on.
I'm not without complete sympathy for you though as you just simply do not have a clue.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
NetCo blowback
Until then, screw 'em. They're no martyrs to free and open information -- they and their colleagues are the core of the problem.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
security, etc.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]