[governance] Icann|FCC Regulator - Good Cop|Bad Cop

[yehudakatz at mailinator.com]

Are the two [Icann|FCC] now playing Good Cop|Bad Cop?

Ref.:

FCC Urged to Stop ISP Traffic 'Throttling'
A Web-based video distributor asks the FCC to set up rules for broadband
network traffic management.
Grant Gross, IDG News Service
Saturday, November 17, 2007 07:00 AM PST
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139751-c,internetlegalissues/article.html

A distributor of online video content has filed a complaint with the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to stop broadband
providers from blocking or slowing P-to-P traffic.

The petition filed by Vuze, which uses the BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer)
protocol to distribute Web content, asks the FCC to set rules for network
management by ISPs (Internet service providers). Vuze's filing late Wednesday
follows reports last month that cable broadband provider Comcast slows some
P-to-P traffic, including BitTorrent.

Broadband providers often promote their services as being necessary for
watching video online, but then they slow access to a service like Vuze's, said
John Fernandes, Vuze's vice president of marketing. "They say that they're
engaging in reasonable network management, but what they're doing is slowing
down some traffic," he said.

Vuze, which has partnerships with several movie studios, television networks
and PC game makers, wants to start a dialog with ISPs about what kind of
network management is allowed, added Gilles BianRosa, the company's CEO. But
the FCC needs to prohibit large-scale content blocking, what he called traffic
"throttling," he said.

"The ISPs cannot decide unilaterally what to do with third-party Internet
services such as us," BianRosa said. "We need to work with them to design a
solution that works and is fair."

By blocking or slowing video and other Web content, ISPs are fighting against
customer demand for more multimedia services, BianRosa added. "We think that
ISPs are spitting into the wind with that kind of approach," he said. "This
kind of blocking has to stop."

Representatives of three large broadband providers, Comcast, Verizon and AT&T,
didn't immediately respond to a request for comments on Vuze's FCC filing.
Comcast has denied blocking Web content, but some broadband providers have
opposed other attempts to create rules against blocking some types of traffic,
saying they need to be able to ensure quality of service by managing their
networks.

Vuze's FCC petition is similar in some ways to calls by consumer groups and
Internet-based firms for the FCC or the U.S. Congress to pass network
neutrality rules, which would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or
slowing Web content from competitors. The FCC has had an open inquiry into net
neutrality rules since April, and a push to pass rules in Congress has stalled.

But the Vuze proposal is more focused than net neutrality, BianRosa said. Net
neutrality often includes other issues in addition to content blocking,
including requirements for broadband and wireless providers to allow all legal
devices to connect to their networks. Vuze is asking the FCC to "dig deeper"
than the net neutrality debate, he said.

Public Knowledge, a group promoting consumer rights on the Internet, praised
the Vuze filing. Vuze is a good example of the harm caused by content blocking,
said Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge's president.

"Comcast's actions frustrate Vuze's business and force the company to devote
resources to play a 'cat and mouse' game with Comcast in order to maintain
superior service for its customers," Sohn said in an e-mail. "We hope the FCC
acts promptly before even more harm is done to more consumers and to more
companies."

Earlier this week, a Comcast customer in California filed a lawsuit against the
company, saying the provider has caused several Web-based programs to suffer
performance problems. In late October, Public Knowledge and other members of
the Open Internet Coalition filed a complaint about the alleged Comcast
blocking with the FCC.

Vuze, based in Palo Alto, California, distributes video in partnership with
movie studios and television networks including the BBC, Showtime and PBS. It
also distributes PC games, music videos, and audio files. Company officials say
the Vuze client has been installed by customers more than 12 million times
since the company, formerly called Azureus, rebranded itself in January.
--
End
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