Open those pipes

So said the chairman of the FCC to Comcast..."Open those pipes."

Even the business pandering chairman of the FCC, Kevin Martin found Comcast's broadband networks practice of denying service to certain websites and blocking file sharing to be against the rules. Score one for the little guy! Or at least until the four other commissioners of the FCC weigh in with their votes. Martin's order requires a majority of the five commissioners to support it, and while he found a libertarian streak, there is no guarantee the other commissioners will.

The way the Clarion reads the tea leaves there are two "No" votes, one "Yes" vote, and a hard to call, which must come through for Chairman Martin to win 3-2.

Martin's long awaited ruling said in part, (that he found) "Comcast's broadband network management practices to be in violation of the FCC's policy principles."

Also that, "Comcast is broadly and arbitrarily blocking subscriber access to the legal Internet content of their choice."

He said they should, "fully disclose the limitations on the use of bandwidth for subscribers so they know exactly what they are paying for."

This is an important ruling because as more and more consumers get broadband access in their homes, more and more big files will becoming down the pipes, and the incentives for the monopolistic cable-internet providers to commit monkey business will be greater. They will punish the users of the greatest amounts bandwith, if not with denial of service, then with higher charges. Cable-internet providers will do this so that they can maximize their total net number of users and thus revenue while denying consumers free choice in a market where they have a monopoly on service provision. This was definitely an area the FCC needed to step into definitively and strongly.

We will keep you posted on how the commission votes.

Read more here from PC Magazine.