How we want Democrats to act

Like Senator Franken.. taking Comcast to task:

Love him or hate him, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), former employee of NBC, made Comcast's befuddled CEO Brian "Comcatastrophe" Roberts look like a complete tool during yesterday's hearing on the proposed Comcast/NBC mergepocalypse.

We don't actually know if Brian "Comcatastrophe" Roberts is generally as confused and awkward as he appeared to be while trying to explain why Comcast would testify that FCC regulations provide adequate safeguards for consumers -- after it just argued that the same rules were unconstitutional . Maybe he's usually pretty sharp. We really don't know.

Is this fair or legal?

Comcast Corp., which is facing an enforcement action by the Federal Communication Commission over how it treats Internet traffic, will experiment with a new method of managing that traffic to thousands of customers in Chambersburg, Pa., and Warrenton, Va.

The "overwhelming majority" of customers in the two towns will see no difference in their Internet experience during the test, said company spokesman Charles Douglas. The tests will begin tomorrow and run for 30 days.

Comcast, with 14 million residential high-speed Internet customers, expects to test the new method in Colorado Springs, Colo., this summer and to implement it throughout the Comcast system by the end of the year.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said he would make a decision this month on an enforcement action over whether Comcast improperly interfered with Internet traffic. The company faces a potentially huge fine.

Internet advocates and Silicon Valley companies have criticized Comcast for targeting peer-to-peer Internet traffic and not telling its customers. Some consider online streaming through peer-to-peer file-sharing technology, like that of BitTorrent Inc., a future competitor to Comcast's pay-TV business.

With the new method, Comcast said it would not target file-sharing, but would focus on individual heavy Internet users - no matter what they are doing.

The new Internet traffic method will put the online traffic of ordinary Internet users ahead of heavy users at certain times to maintain overall Internet speeds, Douglas said. Thus, the Internet experience for heavy users - so-called Internet hogs - could slow during periods of Internet congestion.

Comcast would be experimenting in the three towns with different vendors supplying this "protocol-agnostic" Internet-management software, he said.

Reading the comments is fascinating but doesn't clear things up. Most people want no restrictions, some are willing to pay more for speed, some say we are way behind in internet speeds both in Asia and in Europe. What gives?

Free high-speed wireless internet

The corporations say no.

Jamie Holly of Crooks and Liars:

On CNN’s In the Money, John Muleta, who is the founder and CEO of M2Z media was talking about the telecom giants trying to block his companies plans of providing free, high-speed, wireless internet to the entire nation.

And watch out for being cut off for "excessive usage": (from the same post)

Comcast has punished some transgressors by cutting off their Internet service, arguing that excessive downloaders hog Internet capacity and slow down the network for other customers. The company declines to reveal its download limits.

“You have no way of knowing how much is too much,” said Sandra Spalletta of Rockville, whose Internet service was suspended in March after Comcast sent her a letter warning that she and her teenage son were using too much bandwidth. They cut back on downloads but were still disconnected. She said the company would not tell her how to monitor their bandwidth use in order to comply with the limits.

“You want to think you can rely on your home Internet service and not wake up one morning to find it turned off,” said Spalletta, who filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Office of Cable and Communication Services. “I thought it was unlimited service.”