Comcast to Appeal FCC's Decision On Internet Blocking

By AMY SCHATZ

WASHINGTON -- Comcast Corp. filed suit against the Federal Communications Commission Thursday to overturn the agency's decision to sanction the company for blocking certain Internet traffic.

The lawsuit involves a 3-2 decision the FCC handed down in early August that found Comcast's practices violated so-called net-neutrality principles, and ordered the company to provide more details of its network-management policies within 30 days. The FCC also ordered Comcast to stop by the end of the year blocking traffic related to specific applications, such as file-sharing software that allows users to swap videos.

It was the first time the FCC had found a company in violation of the commission's net-neutrality principles, which lay out consumers' Internet rights.

Comcast was widely expected to appeal the FCC's decision, even though the company wasn't fined. Comcast says its practice of sometimes slowing Internet traffic on file-sharing networks like BitTorrent is reasonable and necessary to prevent a few heavy bandwidth users from slowing other customers' service. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals here, doesn't go into details about the complaint, but company officials have argued that the FCC has authority to bring enforcement actions under formal rules, not principles. While the FCC has stated a position on net neutrality, it hasn't established formal rules.

Concern about the issue has driven efforts by congressional Democrats to pass net-neutrality legislation that would give the FCC specific authority to police Internet providers.

Despite the lawsuit, Comcast said it will fully comply with the FCC's order, including filing more information about its network-management practices. Comcast had already announced changes to its practices. It will begin slowing traffic of its heaviest residential customers for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes during peak times by the end of the year. The company also recently announced that, beginning Oct. 1, residential customers will be limited to 250 gigabytes of traffic each month.

"We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the [FCC] found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules," Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in a written statement.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he was disappointed by Comcast's decision to appeal but was pleased that the company has agreed to comply with the FCC's order for more consumer disclosure and information.

A week ago, public-interest groups filed lawsuits about the FCC's Comcast decision in three appeals courts across the country, so a lottery would be held to decide which court hears the case.

Those interest groups don't oppose the FCC's decision to slap Comcast for its network-management practices, but said in their lawsuits that the agency erred by not forcing Comcast to stop blocking traffic immediately.

Write to Amy Schatz at Amy.Schatz@wsj.com

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