Net neutrality is making headlines again this week. Turns out Comcast is a bigger jack ass than initially thought. Some might not even have thought that was possible but, with the announcement from the FCC yesterday that “Comcast’s slowing of peer-to-peer traffic appeared to be more widespread than the company has disclosed”, it’s possible those people might change their minds. The FCC has been investigating Comcast for a few months now and chairman Kevin Martin says they have everything they need to proceed with action against Comcast and that no further rules are necessary. “I do not believe any additional regulations are needed at this time. But I also believe that the commission has a responsibility to enforce the (open internet) principles that it has already adopted.” While Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association disagrees, the battle over regulating the internet is just beginning.

Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC

In similar news  ”in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Writers Guild of America West topper Patric Verrone and thesp Justine Bateman described the Internet as the only remaining open market for truly independent creators.” Both Verrone and Bateman emphasized the need for Net neutrality. The MPAA however opposes any attempt to enforce Net neutrality on the basis of combating pirated content and has sided with broadband service providers in the hope that they can gain control of the pipelines.

The argument from providers such as Comcast is that “Net neutrality regulation of any kind isn’t necessary because users would simply drop any service that discriminated.” In that line of thought Comunistcast would have lost its 13 million subscribers over the past few months when it “block[ed] uploads of a significant portion of subscribers.”

The worry on the creative side, according to Verrone, is that “the axiom in Hollywood is that content is king, but those who control access to the king, control the kingdom” and if broadband providers control the access then a vibrant industry of independent creators could be lost. We are at a time when no “binding legal obligations” have been set for the neutrality of the web and the decisions made by Congress and the FCC over the next 5-10 years will determine the direction the internet travels.


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