Comcast tests slow speeds for heavy Net users

Comcast Corp. says an experimental method for managing the Internet could slow speeds for all heavy online users for 10 to 20 minutes.

The Philadelphia company is testing the new method in five markets around the nation in response to a Federal Communications Commission order, formally released today. Philadelphia is not one of the markets.

The order says Comcast has to stop targeting its customers who use BitTorrent Inc. software to view pirated movies online and other Internet video.

To satisfy the FCC, Comcast has said it would slow online traffic for all heavy users - those who use BitTorrent and those who use other file-sharing programs.

Comcast has to disclose within 30 days its existing Internet-management practices to the federal agency, according to the FCC order, and its plans for new nondiscriminatory practices. The FCC also ordered the company to disclose more information to consumers.

If Comcast does not comply with the order within 35 days, the FCC has the right to immediately force Comcast to make changes, the order states. The FCC approved the controversial order Aug. 1 in a 3-2 vote.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Comcast's existing practices were anticompetitive because BitTorrent's video streaming competes with Comcast's pay-TV video-on-demand service. The order was considered a victory for proponents of "net neutrality," who believe that companies should not interfere with the Internet.

Mitch Bowling, senior vice president and general manager of Comcast online services, said today that the cable giant was experimenting with the new methods of managing the Internet to comply with the FCC and that only a "very small group of users" would see slower speeds in times of congestion.

Comcast engineers were developing the right "configuration" to ease congestion, Bowling said, and they planned to implement the new method by year's end. "Our goal is to provide the best online experience with as light a touch as possible."

Comcast has more than 10 million high-speed Internet customers.

No one will have online speeds slowed if the network is not congested, spokesman Charlie Douglas said. Heavy usage limits may vary by location, he said.

The FCC order is precedent-setting in that it establishes for the first time the agency's authority over the Internet.

In the 67-page order, the FCC said Comcast's actions targeting BitTorrent software could have a chilling effect on Internet innovation.

"I was pretty happy with it. It was pretty strident," Marvin Ammori, the general counsel for nonprofit group Free Press, said of the FCC order.

Ammori was the lead lawyer in the complaint against Comcast. He could not comment, he said, on Comcast's new Internet tactics until he saw more details.