Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/27/andrew_cuomo_subpoenas_comcast/
New York subpoenas Comcast 'reasonable network management' records
Rescues 20,000 souls
Posted in Telecoms, 27th February 2008 04:31 GMT
Free webcast: Service level monitoring and management
Let it be said that the state of New York cares for oppressed minorities.
Word arrives from The AP (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gxRiQSVfgK4sLbVRE_X4MOlM9q0AD8V27AD00) that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has come to the rescue of the state's Comcast subscribers, though they account for less than half of one per cent of all cable-connected New York broadbanders.
In the wake of the FCC's investigation (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/fcc_to_investigate_comcast_bittorrent_busting/) into Comcast's long history (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/09/comcast_tweaks_terms_of_service/) of BitTorrent busting, Cuomo has subpoenaed traffic data from the big-name American ISP. According to a Comcast spokesperson, the company is "cooperating with the New York State Attorney General's office and will continue to do so".
Though Comcast originally denied (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/22/comcast_throttles_bittorrent_users/) busting BitTorrents, the company now half-admits (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/19/bittorrent_developers_hit_back_at_comcast/) the practice, calling it "reasonable network management".
Some argue that Comcast has every right (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/23/benett_eff_neutrality_response/) to such network management. But the FCC may soon take action against the company. On Monday, at a public hearing (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/technology/26fcc.html?em&ex=1204174800&en=102ce07fd22495d1&ei=5087%0A) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, FCC chair Kevin Martin indicated that the commission is mulling a fine or an official order that would bust the ISP's BitTorrent busting.
"While networks may have reasonable practices, they obviously cannot operate without taking some reasonable steps," Martin said. "But that does not mean they can arbitrarily block access to certain services." ®