(from savetheinternet.com )

Historic Victory for Net Neutrality
August 1st, 2008

In a landmark decision, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein approved a bipartisan “enforcement order” that would require Comcast to stop blocking and publicly disclose its methods for manipulating Internet traffic.

Tests by the Associated Press and others showed that Comcast blocked users’ legal peer-to-peer transmissions by sending fake signals that cut off the connection between file-sharers. Today’s decision follows a months-long FCC investigation, launched in response to a complaint from Free Press and Public Knowledge urging the federal agency to stop Comcast’s blocking.

In response to the victory, Josh Silver, Free Press executive director, said: “Comcast’s history of deception and continued blocking shows brazen contempt for the online consumer protections established by the FCC. We commend Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps and Adelstein for standing up for internet users and working across party lines to protect free speech and the free market.”
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In his statement this morning, Martin compared Comcast’s blocking practices to allowing the post office to discriminate against mail “Would you be OK with the post office opening your mail, deciding they didn’t want to bother delivering it, and hiding that fact by sending it back to you stamped ‘address unknown – return to sender?’” he asked. “Or if they opened letters mailed to you, decided that because the mail truck is full sometimes, letters to you could wait, and then hid both that they read your letters and delayed them?”
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The Fight Continues

This precedent-setting victory sends a powerful message to phone and cable companies that breaking Net Neutrality rules will not be tolerated. And it marks a milestone in the fight to preserve a free and open Internet – and the first time the FCC has enforced the peoples’ right to see and hear what they want on the Internet without blocking or slowing down content.

This victory is monumental. But the fight to safeguard Net Neutrality is far from over.

Commissioner Copps recognized the struggle ahead, and called for the FCC to adopt a principle that commits the FCC to a policy of network openness. “A clearly stated commitment of nondiscrimination would make clear that the Commission is not having a one-night stand with net neutrality, but an affair of the heart and a commitment for life,” he said in a statement.

Already, more than 1.6 million people have contacted the FCC and Congress to protect Net Neutrality. The calls, petitions and e-mails must not stop. Now is the time to flood our policymakers with the message that we demand an open and free Internet now and always.


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