Free Press: Comcast Decision 'Major Victory' for Open Internet

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Federal Communications
Commission voted to punish Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, for
blocking users' access to the open Internet. In a landmark decision, FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein
approved an "enforcement order" that would require Comcast to stop
blocking and publicly disclose its methods for interfering with Internet
traffic.

Tests by
the Associated Press and others showed that Comcast blocks users' legal
peer-to-peer content by sending fake signals that cut off the connection
between file-sharers.

Speaking about the decision, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said: "Would you be OK with the post office opening your mail, deciding
they didn't want to bother delivering it, and hiding that fact by
sending it back to you stamped 'address unknown - return to sender'? Or
if they opened letters mailed to you, decided that because the mail
truck is full sometimes, letters to you could wait, and then hid both
that they read your letters and delayed them? Unfortunately, that is
exactly what Comcast was doing with their subscribers' Internet
traffic."

Today's decision follows an exhaustive FCC
investigation, launched in response to a complaint from Free Press and Public
Knowledge urging the federal agency to stop Comcast's blocking.

Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press,
issued the following statement:

"The
FCC's bipartisan decision to punish Comcast is a major victory. Defying every
ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington,
everyday people have taken on a major corporation and won an historic
precedent for an open Internet.

"Comcast's
history of deception and continued blocking show contempt for the online
consumer protections established by the FCC. We commend Chairman Martin and
Commissioners Copps and Adelstein for standing up for Internet users and
working across party lines to protect free speech and the free market.

"Today's
order makes it clear that there is nothing reasonable about restricting
access to online content or technologies. Moving forward, this bellwether
case will send a strong signal to cable and phone companies that such
violations will not be tolerated.

"But
the fight is far from over. A duopoly market -- where phone and cable
companies control nearly 99 percent of high-speed connections -- will not
discipline itself. We look forward to working with the FCC and Congress to
ensure proactive measures keep the Internet open and free of discrimination,
and accessible to all Americans."

Read the Comcast Complaint: http://www.freepress.net/docs/fp_pk_comcast_complaint.pdf