AT&T is mulling over the idea of using Internet filtering technology to stop pirated content from traveling on its network, Senior Vice President James Cicconi announced during a discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The ISP is said to be in talks about the possibility of using filtering technology with content companies such as NBC Universal.
“We are very interested in a technology-based solution,” Cicconi said in a blog on the New York Times website, “and we think a network-based solution is the optimal way to approach this. We recognize we are not there yet but there are a lot of promising technologies.”
AT&T faces a very difficult fight in the consumer marketplace if they’re to take this route, however. A massive outcry occurred last year as a result of cable operator Comcast shaping BitTorrent traffic. The Chairman of the FCC said Tuesday that an investigation will be launched to see if Comcast had violated any FCC policies.
A coalition of consumers and scholars approached the agency in November to urge them to stop Comcast from discriminating against certain types of data. Two other groups also asked the FCC to fine the nation’s No. 2 Internet provider $195,000 for every affected subscriber.
“Sure, we’re going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked,” Martin told an audience at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
Groups that oppose filtering and shaping are of the mind that the Internet should be kept “neutral,” and that allowing ISP’s to research your traffic to look for copyrighted content could start us on a slippery slope to Internet censorship.
Peer-to-peer file (P2P) sharing is a common way to swap copyrighted files illegally, but many companies are also beginning to use it for legal distribution of many kinds of content, including videos, music, and games. If service providers start to play traffic cop with that data, in essence they become the gatekeepers of Internet content.
The FCC’s response to the Comcast, and eventually AT&T issues, will be a test of its willingness to enforce “Net Neutrality,” the principle that all Internet traffic must be treated equally by all carriers. The agency already has a policy on the books supporting the concept, but its position hasn’t been tested in a real-world case yet.
The FCC’s policy statement makes an exception for “reasonable traffic management,” and Comcast has said its “shaping” practices fell under that exception.
What do you think about this? Tell AT&T and Comcast how you feel.
2 comments ↓
Better yet, contact some AT&T corporate honchos directly here.
Their email addresses at bottom of the post, updated from DKos link. Also has an example letter, if you need ideas.
Screw AT&T.
Well I can think of 100 ways to defeat it. And I only thought about it for 1 second.
BRING IT ON.
Just think of all the new compression and encryption technologies that will created if they do this.
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