F.C.C. Chief Would Bar Comcast From Imposing Web Restrictions

[WhiteTara]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/technology/12comcast.html?em&ex=1216008000&en=afcd34c6cde24d9e&ei=5087%0A

evin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Friday that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, should be sanctioned because it had interfered with the Internet connections of users who were exchanging files with other people.

Mr. Martin’s recommendation is a strong push for network neutrality, the idea that Internet access providers like Comcast should not be allowed to favor some uses of their networks over others. Internet companies like Google and free speech advocates have backed this approach.
snip
Mr. Martin wants to set a standard that will make it difficult for an Internet provider to discriminate against users based on what they want to do online.

“The Internet is based upon the idea that consumers can go anywhere they want and access any content they want,” Mr. Martin said in an interview. “When they show they are blocking access to some sort of content, they have the burden to show that what they are doing is reasonable.”

snip
Some are concerned that if Mr. Martin presses these rules, the Internet providers will move away from offering unlimited Internet service. Already Time Warner is testing a system that would impose significant caps on how much its users could download.

Why aren't we celebrating this small victory? Just because it is being monitored by the NSA?