Comcast Disputes Case's Meaning
In a blog post Monday, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen argued that the cable provider's challenge against an FCC enforcement action is not a fight about network neutrality, as some public interest groups and others have portrayed it, but is instead about the FCC overstepping its authority. A federal appeals court Friday heard arguments in Comcast's challenge to the FCC's enforcement action against the cable provider two years ago for impeding customer access to sites such as BitTorrent that enable the sharing of movies, video games and other files.
"The primary basis for our challenge, and the basis on which we hope the court will decide this case, is that no federal agency can subject any company or individual to sanctions for violation of federal standards when there was no law in the first place," Cohen wrote. "This is a basic issue of fair notice, regardless of the issue at stake. So it shouldn't matter whether you are for or against 'net neutrality' regulation -- this is simply not the way the government should conduct its business."
The FCC's enforcement action was based on a policy statement rather than formal rules, prompting Comcast to challenge the government in court by arguing the FCC lacked authority to chastise it before adopting official regulations. Still, FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick and others indicated Friday that a ruling against the commission could affect current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's efforts to impose network neutrality rules, which would prevent network operators from prioritizing certain types of content.
"If the FCC -- or any agency -- wants to regulate in an area, it needs first to establish binding regulations and apply them properly, consistent with the process that Chairman Genachowski has now proposed," Cohen said.
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