TOP STORIES: Net Neutrality Set Back and Cyber Cold War

Comcast 1, Net Neutrality O

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Comcast’s (now NBC/Universal) appeal of the FCC’s 2008 order finding that it had violated the agencies net neutrality principles by throttling peer-to-peer users but which imposed no sanction.  The Court of Appeal stressed that the FCC had no such authority, explaining that while Congress gave it broad powers with respect to the Internet, “the allowance of wide latitude in the exercise of delegated powers is not the equivalent of untrammeled freedom to regulate activities over which the statute fails to confer . . .Commission authority.”  The battle over net neutrality now turns to Congress, where Senator McCain has already declared an intent to block any neutrality initiative.

The FCC, however, is pursuing its broadband expansion program.  Currently,the US is significantly lagging in average broadband speed such that it would take  nearly seven hours to transfer 30 MRIs at the average U.S. broadband speed compared to only 43 minutes in Japan — leaving them time to download all six Star Wars movies nearly 7 times (and read every Cyber Report).

More Info:  Opinion, Comcast 1, FCC 0:  The Inevitable Rematch, Ars Technica.