Well, it's all good to fight the good fight, but in the end, Big Corporation will get whatever it wants from the government.

I think the health care bill proved that definitively.

The tricky part here is that Level 3 is painting this as filtering (by mentioning movies and "other," which apparently means everything else that Level 3 is sending), while Comcast in some reports is describing this as a typical two-way contract that's in place for interconnecting networks that's not working out for Comcast.

If the former, and Comcast is filtering traffic originating from Level 3 through any path on the Internet by which it reaches Comcast, and only throttling Level 3 packets or movie packets from Level 3, then it's a violation of net neutrality principles, which are not yet enshrined in law or regulation.

If the latter, then Comcast will likely retain the right to establish any kind of business relationship that it wants, and if it wants to charge Level 3 for a direct connection to Comcast's core network, then that will likely be allowed because it's not related to prioritizing or throttling traffic directly.

The tricky part here is that Level 3 is painting this as filtering (by mentioning movies and "other," which apparently means everything else that Level 3 is sending), while Comcast in some reports is describing this as a typical two-way contract that's in place for interconnecting networks that's not working out for Comcast.

If the former, and Comcast is filtering traffic originating from Level 3 through any path on the Internet by which it reaches Comcast, and only throttling Level 3 packets or movie packets from Level 3, then it's a violation of net neutrality principles, which are not yet enshrined in law or regulation.

If the latter, then Comcast will likely retain the right to establish any kind of business relationship that it wants, and if it wants to charge Level 3 for a direct connection to Comcast's core network, then that will likely be allowed because it's not related to prioritizing or throttling traffic directly.

The tricky part is double posting. Thanks for following the coverage on this, Mr. H.

This will just be another thing we'll get to thanks Republicans for when it passes and we all have to pay extra for everything on the net. (Coincedentally I'm sure, but the Tea Party's interest on this seems to be exactly the same as coporate America's. Who'd of thunk it?)

This has nothing to do with Net Neutrality and everything to do with the stupidness of having an Internet provider whose main business is selling tv shows over its cable.

Of course, it's going to be bi-polar because the one business is forever threatening to put the other out of business.

And lets face it -- a "channel" cable or not is obsolete. Hulu proves it. Netflix proves it. NFL/MLB streaming proves it.

That's why I like Clear wimax. Clear is at least a "pure" internet service...they are not trying to sell me anything but Internet which is all I want ... not phones (Qwest, Sprint) or TV (Comcast, Xfinity) just sheer data bandwidth delivered without wires, cables or fibers.

We should have a municipal broadband utility with metered rates and citizen oversight.

@7 GOOD luck getting the infrastructure to take on big boy carriers funded on the Federal level for that, unless all the Congress and Senate Republicans die tomorrow at once and are replaced with Democratic supermajorities on both sides. Then try to avoid the flood of business sponsored lawsuits. Ditto on the lawsuits and funding local level.

Comcast will tell Level 3, "We'll pay you $15,000,000 a year for this traffic at this speed. $20,000,000 for everything the same." Level 3 will tell Netflix, "you pay us $15,000,000 for traffic. For us to work with Comcast at same speeds, they want another $5,000,000." Replace the numbers with the real math at your leisure.

Netflix will decide if it's more cost efficient long-term to pay Comcast (via Level 3) for the right to access their networks at unmolested rates, and pass on the costs to consumers, or will sue the shit out of Comcast and make net neutrality a court fight if they think they can win and profit. I'm on Netflix's side in this race. We all should, for whats at stake in principle and practice.

Nothing is coming out any other way.

@6 yeah, that's great, but some of us want options that are only on cable for our entertainment, and don't want to wait for the DVD or deal with streaming qualities for things like sports.

boing boing.

Glad to see that Comcast will get everything it wants from both the Democrats and Republicans.

Long live the corportocracy!!!

Throttling should be illegal. If a consumer purchases x-bandwidth they should get that; regardless of the content they select. We already don't get the bandwidth they tell us they are selling us. Now they want to start micro-managing it.
I'm with #6.
It appears bundling services are turning out to be a conflict of interest (at least for the consumer)!

PS: It's kind of like the phone service these cable companies offer. Since they aren't phone companies they don't have to provide the service 24/7. If you don't have a phone when you go to dial 911 that's to bad (it's in your contract).
I always thought it was odd the phone company can't do that. They are obligated and can be sued if that happens. But not the cable companies!
gesh
Sounds like preferential treatment, which in big business, usually means someone(s) pocket got lined!

Comcrap can go fuck itself in one of its fat, stinky openings (it has hundreds of them, all over its body).
Every time I hear the word "Comcrap," it's attached to another fuck-the-consumer story. What a bunch of assholes! Comcrap, you can go fuck yourselves, too, instead of fucking your "customers."

Rest assured, if you hadn't gotten a fascistic blank check with a monopoly for wired cable inside certain city limits, I would dump you faster than a goose dumps corn.
Inside this fascistic internet playground, my only choice other than Comcrap is Clear. The former fucks us every chance they get, and the latter fucks us between 9:00PM and 6:00AM. Clear is just another brand of goose shit.

If Comcrap succeeds in fucking up my internet movie experience, I will call and complain three times every day -- forever -- tying up their lines as much as possible. I will also encourage every other Comcrap "customer" (read: "victim") to do the same. In fact, I think I'll start today.

Fuck Comcrap.

This is only good news for the USPS. Netflix must be their biggest customer right now.

Comcast is evil. I have a Comcast doll and many long pins. Die, Comcast.

I don't usually rely on SLOG for technical information; I just _had_ to read this one to see how the ironic question mark in the headline would be explained. There is absolutely no question in the statement "Comcast Threatening Net Neutrality."

Comcast is a great company, but like many nationwide businesses it can have some weak spots. I was surfing the internet and I found this site where people can vent about poor customer service or products they received... it can get really funny. I would recommend you to check it out here: http://ventme.com/companies/view/103