FCC hauls Comcast over the coals
US TELCO WATCHDOG the Federal Communications Commission has formally accused the former British colony's second largest broadband provider of breaking Internet network neutrality by throttling P2P traffic from Bit Torrent.
Comcast claimed that network throttling was part of routine network management by broadband service providers, but the FCC said that this argument was cobblers.
The agency said that Comcast was guilty of secretly degrading network traffic and in a split 3-2 vote ordered the ISP to stop blocking traffic, disclose to the FCC the full extent of the cable giant's traffic practices and to keep the public informed of its future network management plans.
The agency found that Comcast misled consumers when it did not properly disclose its P2P policy.
Unfortunately the FCC has got the same power to enforce its rulings as a toothless sheep has to tuck into a nice juicy steak.
Since Comcast maintains it is working within the law, it can tell the FCC to go forth and multiply. ยต
L'Inq
EWeek
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Funny thing about that.... if only the British government at the time (King George the Looney, oops, the 3rd and Parliament) had only offered the American colonies even non-voting representation.....Stupid, even for Brits....

the part that you said: "Unfortunately the FCC has got the same power to enforce its rulings as a toothless sheep has to tuck into a nice juicy steak." gave me a real chuckle. However, I think they have maybe 2 teeth in the mouth to do a little damage, I think they can land some huge fines on comcast's ass. 

I've tried to download some legitimate software through bittorrent on comcast network and as soon as the torrent starts I'm unable to use the internet for the first 5 to 10 minutes (even if I'm not connected to anyone yet). 

they should upgrade their network, what am I paying for? I'm not paying to put money in their pockets I'm paying for a service and I'm paying a lot for it. with all the money they're making they should upgrade their back end and neighbourhood nodes.
And again, you are playing Comcast's game by simply focusing on P2P. It is also FCC policy that ISPs cannot block Internet services running on the customers' computers. Take the FCC policies and compare them with the ISPs' terms. Please, check the terms, call the FCC, ask questions, and report something interesting here.

FCC policies, summarized:
http://www.cybertelecom.org/ci/neutralfcc.htm

ISPs' terms, examples:

http://www.att.net/general-info/terms-dsl-data.html
Section 10 "Be Fair" b
You may not use your Service connection to host a dedicated Internet server site.

http://security.comcast.net/terms/use.aspx
Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Comcast Equipment to: run programs, equipment, or servers from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises LAN (Local Area Network), also commonly referred to as public services or servers. Examples of prohibited services and servers include, but are not limited to, e-mail, Web hosting, file sharing, and proxy services and servers;

http://www.cox.com/policy/
Acceptable Use Policy
Section 6
Servers. You may not operate, or allow others to operate, servers of any type or any other device, equipment, and/or software providing server-like functionality in connection with the Service, unless expressly authorized by Cox.

http://www.verizon.net/policies/tos.asp
Section 3.6.5
You may not use the Broadband Service to host any type of server personal or commercial in nature.

I list only the largest wrongdoers. As long as the FCC is just a dollhouse, nothing will change. Thanks to the MAFIAA things will only get worse.