Friday the FCC slammed Comcast for violating the internet access policy when it blocked internet traffic for many of its subscribers and terminated the accounts of high bandwidth users.  While I don’t much care for the FCC, I can honestly say this is one of the best things to come out of that board in years.

I am a Comcast subscriber.  I don’t really have a choice in the matter – I live in an apartment and if you want to watch TV you either get Comcast or you get out the rabbit ears.  I use Comcast internet, because again, it’s Comcast, or it’s DSL, or it’s dial up.  Comcast has a legal monopoly on cable service in Houston.

Virtually all cable companies have a legal monopoly on service in their area.  The only competition between cable providers comes when the infrastructure goes in, and then they only have to compete for the body which controls that process.  Basically, if you have a problem with your cable provider, you have two choices:  buy a dish (if you can) and settle for DSL (eww?) or suck it up.

As a conservative who believes that a free market economy can solve a lot of problems, I prefer free market competition over government regulation any day.  Yes, I know it’s not really workable here, but as a rule of thumb, it suits me just fine.  To get to the thrust of this post I have to swallow my natural, visceral response to government intervention.

The FCC has finally done something right.

For those of you who don’t follow tech news, I’ll summarize:

Comcast is an internet provider.  In that capacity, it monitors and regulates internet traffic.  It has used that power to curtail internet use and summarily terminate the accounts of the highest bandwidth users.

“But Janus,” you say.  “They’re just going after pirates!”

No.  They’re going after everyone who uses bandwidth.  Host a high-traffic web site?  Yeah, you’re banned.  Have a web cam?  Yeah, you’re banned.  Distribute legitimate shareware?  Yeah, you’re banned.  Downloading a game you bought directly from the publisher?  Yeah, you’re banned.  Get a virus on your computer that forces you to unwittingly transmit data?  Yeah, you’re banned.

It amounts to nothing more than censorship.  Whether the censorship is motivated by paranoia or greed, I don’t much care.

There are those who say this practice is perfectly reasonable.  Comcast is a service provider, they have customers, if they piss off their customers they go out of business, and the government doesn’t have any right to interfere.

I’d agree, except that 1) there is no alternative.  There’s no free market forces in play here.  And 2) it’s the FCC’s job to regulate telecommunications.  Arguing the government doesn’t have a right to intervene in government regulations is ridiculous.

And so, the FCC has done their job and told Comcast to knock it off.  I’m hoping they listen.  And I hope I can watch [adult swim] tonight after this is posted.