Comcast goes to Court

In its ongoing dispute over "network management" practices, which some are calling the latest battle over so-called "net neutrality," Comcast filed its (expected) appeal today with the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (which has jurisdiction over the FCC). They have also appealed the decision to the FCC itself.

Comcast Exec. Vice President David Cohen said of the appeal:

"Although we are seeking review and reversal of the Commission's network management order in federal court, we intend to comply fully with the requirements established in that order, which essentially codify the voluntary commitments that we have already announced, and to continue to act in accord with the Commission's Internet Policy Statement.  Thus, we intend to make the required filings and disclosures, and we will follow through on our longstanding commitment to transition to protocol-agnostic network congestion management practices by the end of this year.  We also remain committed to bringing our customers a superior Internet experience. 

We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the Commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules.  We continue to recognize that the Commission has jurisdiction over Internet service providers and may regulate them in appropriate circumstances and in accordance with appropriate procedures.  However, we are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the Commission's action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record."

Some on the right are now calling for Net Neutrality as some sort of way to protect themselves against domination by "liberal media." I'm finding this more and more hilarious as the same people who want deregulation in everything else want regulation because they feel like they aren't as good at a medium, so they want a different one regulated because they think they're smart enough to get an advantage. *gag* More later.