FCC net-neutrality-wonks: traffic-shaping open-kimono, plz

It's IT Blogwatch: in which is looks like Comcast's super-secret traffic shaping is going to get FCC regulation. Not to mention a knitted Vlad the Impaler hat...

Grant Gross gets going: [Good grief -Ed.]

Consumer rights groups cheered reports saying that the Federal Communications Commission is ready to take action against Comcast Corp. for the cable-based Internet provider's decision to slow some peer-to-peer traffic on its network.
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Democratic FCC members Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein will join Republican Chairman Kevin Martin in voting to punish Comcast for slowing BitTorrent peer-to-peer traffic on its network at times ... a majority of the five-member commission has agreed to take action against the cable provider.

Earlier this month, Martin announced he would press for sanctions against Comcast, and Copps and Adelstein have been vocal supporters of Net neutrality rules prohibiting broadband providers from blocking or slowing Web content they don't like. more

John Paczkowski adds:

To Comcast, throttling or degrading the performance of file-sharing services is a necessary traffic-management technique. To the Federal Communications Commission it’s a violation of the agency’s network-neutrality principles
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Rather than sanctioning the company, the FCC will require Comcast (CMCSA) to stop interfering with Internet traffic on its network, explain to the Commission how it has blocked such traffic in the past and publicly disclose how it plans to manage its network in the future ... [which] could set a precedent that will undoubtedly inspire other Internet service providers to rethink their “traffic management” practices. more

Neutrality is Frank Reed's first avowed intent: [Geddit?]

It goes without saying that we want ... unfettered access to the internet by everyone ... If we are legally gaining access to the internet then there should be no one or no thing that restricts us in any way.
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Enter Comcast. You see, they decided that they should slow some of their customers’ internet traffic because they used too much bandwidth. Poor “wittle” Comcast ... How dare someone actually use all the bandwidth they are paying for!
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Internet providers like Comcast are one of the most important (if not the most important) link in the internet food chain that we all live in. If they decide to limit supply and then hold internet users hostage ... Imagine grocery stores that decide that they don’t need to provide a variety of food options anymore because it is too expensive to serve the few clients that actually buy more than bread and milk. more

Here's Karl "intergalactic miscreant" Bode:

FCC Commissioner and former telecom lobbyist Robert McDowell ... trots out the tired "Internet apocalypse" talking point favored by cable and phone lobbyists, while arguing that government should stay out of such debates about fairness and honesty -- because carriers have things all under control.
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According to McDowell, if he actually did his job ... the Internet would fall down dead ... Facts [are] apparently optional.
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McDowell intentionally blurs the line between government interfering in responsible network management, and government stepping in to prevent consumers from being screwed. In this case, Comcast was forging TCP packets to erode P2P connectivity for all users (regardless of consumption), and then lying about it. more

Om Malik waxes Morissettesq: [Is that even a word? -Ed.]

I love the irony of the FCC and its complete and utter lack of rationality. It continues to show its Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde personality. The very same week it allows two satellite radio companies — Sirrus & XM — to merge, overlooking its very own reservations, promoting monopoly in that business, it is telling Comcast to stop messing around with P2P traffic.
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This just seeks like an opportunistic and populist-baiting move from an organization that has lately stopped putting people first and started bowing and kneeling to large corporations, instead ... Does anyone else feel that FCC has started to display a bizzare streak that shames Roger Clemens? more

And finally...

• HOWTO Knit a Vlad the Impaler Hat

Buffer overflow:

• Pavs: Women in Linux
• Infinite Loop: iPhone, App Store problems causing more than just headaches
• Google Operating System: Google Calendar Adds CalDAV Support
• All about Microsoft: Microsoft mashes up multiple natural-user-interface inputs
• Data Center Knowledge: VMware Plans Major Data Center in Washington state
• The Open Road: The problem with (Not so) OpenOffice.org

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• SJVN: Could Microsoft actually be getting an open-source clue?
• Preston Gralla: Forrester's Vista slam: Just plain wrong
• Mike Elgan: Verizon to offer ultimate traveler's cell phone
• Seth Weintraub: Rumor: MacBook updates to include glass trackpad, other goodies
• Mark Hall: Malware, spam: Bad, getting worse
• Douglas Schweitzer: Times have changed, our programs haven't!
• Shark Tank: How hard could it be?
• Shark Bait: Ruined my sister-in-law's printer

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Cuil: Google competitor, or pointless startup?
• Pump'n'dump spammer's homicide'n'suicide
• Horrific DNS vulnerability now exploited