FCC Already Inundated With Complaints Of Net Neutrality Law Violations
Posted by Joshua_Kopstein on Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011
Amidst the ensuing chaos of the United States’ newly-drafted net neutrality laws, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has done his best to dispel the public’s perception of the FCC as a toothless and ineffectual institution at the mercy of corporate telecoms. Surprising to virtually no one, the telecoms haven’t wasted any time calling their bluff: Tons of complaints of corporate violations have already begun to file in as the new laws — which no one on either side seems to be satisfied with — struggle to maintain the level playing field they hoped to achieve.
The complaints seem to be overwhelmingly focused around streaming video content, which is proving to be one of the most bandwidth-taxing new trends in broadband internet. Comcast, infamous for their unscrupulous bandwidth-choking tactics, is unsurprisingly first on the list. The telecom giant, now the proud partners of NBC Universal, is fighting back against claims from two internet traffic carriers that they are unfairly raising prices for customers that utilize streaming video services.
MetroPCS too has been called out, accused of blocking customers who use VOIP technologies such as Skype. And Verizon, arguably one of the biggest fish in the telecommunications pond, has got all of their backs. Yesterday Verizon took matters into their own hands and along with MetroPCS sued the FCC, fearing the accusations against them would lead to greater government oversight of their anti-competitive shenanigans.
The dangers of corporate web content meddling have already been highlighted greatly with regards to web video streaming. Senator Al Franken points out that services like Netflix could be run out of town if these entities have their way. Having acquired the rights to all of NBC Universal’s programming there’s little stopping the newly conjoined two-headed ogre of NBC/Comcast from pulling all their content from the service, offering us a glimpse at the scarily divided media landscape that may loom on our horizon.
All of the accused companies denied allegations, naturally. But even with the numbers on their side, can net traffic companies like Level 3 and Voxel truly overcome the telecom giants within the frustratingly opaque landscape of the FCC’s neutrality laws?
Related Stories:
How The FCC is Flushing Your Open Internet
Meet The RIAA’s New Inside Man In D.C.
How Comcast Could Squash Netflix
Filed under:
About the author
Electronic musician and computer culture journalist. Contact: josh ◢at◣ motherboard ◐dot◑ tv
