Comcast Given Power To Throttle Online Gaming

Amy Nelson, Associate Writer

April 6, 2010

In a surprise ruling today, a Federal Appeals Court ruled that the FCC does not have the power to require Internet providers to give equal access to all Internet content. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC, or Federal Communications Commission, does not have the authority to require "net neutrality" from providers. This ruling was specifically in regards to the case of Comcast slowing down Internet service to BitTorrent, a s site that is often used for downloading pirated movies or television shows. However, the court's ruling in favor of Comcast has far-reaching implications, and all those who value their Internet service should take notice, particularly gamers, as online gaming could definitely be construed as a threat to cable television viewing. Let's face it, if your online gaming isn't working properly, or is loading slowly and lagging, players get frustrated and are likely to give up and turn on the TV. While the FCC states that it is "firmly committed to promoting an open Internet" the court's ruling has taken away much of its power to do so. Comcast is now legally at liberty to throttle users however it seems fit, for the time being anyway, and other ISP's are sure to follow. While there has been talk of Congress passing a bill covering net neutrality, it is a pretty safe bet that anything coming out of Congress will not happen quickly. In the meantime, the ways that Internet providers could use this ruling to their benefit are quite disturbing. Spending too much time on World of Warcraft? Your cable service could throttle your usage, making many online games difficult, if not impossible to use. Many Internet service providers are also cable providers, and it is not unreasonable to think that they might begin to slow down service to competitor's sites, and could potentially lead to throttling back service to anything that the company considers a threat to their bottom line. Another area at risk are sites offering free episodes of popular shows for viewing over the Internet, such as Hulu. While cable usage has declined in recent years as people begin to get more and more content off the Internet, this gives cable providers the opportunity to make such viewing difficult and undesirable. Another possible result of this ruling is that Internet service providers may begin to charge users based on their usage. Many online gamers who log a significant number of hours a month on MMPOG's or MW2 or BF:BC2 could see their cable bills increase dramatically as they begin to be billed for usage. The appeals court ruling gives much power to Internet service providers, while at the same time removing the power to regulate them from the FCC. According to Ben Scott, Free Press policy director, "This decision destroys the F.C.C.'s authority to build broadband policy on the legal theory established by the Bush administration."

Many have seen the idea of free Internet for all as a dream for the not-very-distant future. However, the recent court ruling definitely will certainly throttle down efforts for a national broadband plan--in more ways than one.