As we’ve seen over the course of this class, copyright issues can sprout up from almost any source. Network neutrality is no exception. Under a “non-neutral” Internet, Comcast began to block some of its P2P filesharing services (specifically BitTorrent) because they were occupying the majority of its bandwidth space. It is argued that Comcast took these measures because most of the activity on BitTorrent consists of illegal filesharing and violates copyright laws, thus it was justifiable to delay some of this sharing. Additionally, the concluding FCC ruling on this case set the precedent for the ISP’s power in handling future copyright violations.
Here’s a brief overview on net neutrality. Net neutrality is the standard that all broadband networks should not contain restrictions on sites, content, or platforms. It essentially limits the networks to simply moving data rather than speeding up, slowing down, or blocking certain web content because of its source. Most major telecommunications groups (or ISPs), however, oppose net neutrality because it would effectively eliminate their power to capitalize on websites through a tiered service model. Advocacy groups, however, believe that net neutrality allows for small business owners, independent political groups, and bloggers to thrive because there is no price of entry for high-quality, high-speed web pages.
In late 2007, Comcast users began to notice that some of their BitTorrent files were not successfully going through and would come back with the return address of the other computer. This type of ISP regulation violates the fundamentals of net neutrality. However, Charlie Douglas, a spokesman for Comcast, denied the allegations. One Associated Press reporter decided to take matters into his own hands. He attempted to download the King James Bible through Comcast cable modems using BitTorrent. (One reason he picked the Bible was that it was NOT protected by copyright.) In 2/3 attempts, the transfer was blocked, and the third transfer began after a 10-minute delay. He then conducted the test on three different Internet connections and concluded that Comcast was intentionally slowing and blocking BitTorrent files.
Amy Banse, the President of Comcast’s Interactive Division responded that the report was an exaggeration. She claimed that because such a small percentage of Comcast subscribers were using such a large percentage of the bandwidth, it was acceptable to manage that small percentage of people accordingly.
The FCC, however, did not agree with Banse. They ruled that Comcast had violated the FCC’s principle and that its actions were not consistent with “reasonable network management.” This decision truly defined the reasonable network management standard for the first time. Because Comcast specifically blocked BitTorrent (and not other highbandwidth applications), the FCC ruled that it was not reasonable network management. The Commission also said that ISPs may only block transmissions of illegal content or transmissions that violate current copyright laws. This is the importance of this case in terms of copyright. It created the precedent for the management of copyrighted works under all ISPs.
http://www.slideshare.net/eac406/net-neutrality2
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