Catchy title, but it doesn't seem like a loophole to me. Just Comcast
delivering some walled-in content using IP, and not allowing it outside the
garden walls.
The twist is that Comcast has imposed data caps (300 Gbyte/mo), and this
walled-in IP service does not count against the monthly data cap. Not a big
deal, yet anyway, but it does raise some red flags?
Draconian fees charged for Internet bits, for any non-Comcast IP streams, would
become a violation of net neutrality. Such high fees would effectively block or
discourage use of competing OTT sites. But lucky for us, the FCC has already
thought of that, keeping a watchful eye.
Bert
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http://www.wired.com/2015/11/comcast-may-have-found-a-major-net-neutrality-loophole/
Klint Finley Business
Date of Publication: 11.20.15.
Time of Publication: 4:33 pm.
Comcast may have found a major loophole in the Federal Communication
Commission's network neutrality regulations.
Earlier this month the company launched a new streaming video service for
Comcast broadband customers called Stream TV. The service, which is only
available in the greater Boston and Chicago areas so far, allows you to watch
HBO as well as live local television stations on your computer, tablet or
laptop. The catch is that the service will only work from your home.
That may sound like a big limitation, but it comes with a big perk for some
users: Stream TV won't count towards the 300GB data limit imposed on some
Comcast broadband users. Since users who exceed that 300GB threshold are
charged an extra $10 for every extra 50GB they use, up to $30 per month1, the
$15-a-month Stream TV offering could be appealing to users worried that other
video services, such as Netflix or Sling TV, will eat through their data
allotment.
You're watching TV on your computer via your broadband connection. But Comcast
says technically Stream TV is being offered via cable.
Comcast says this isn't a violation of network neutrality law because, although
you're viewing Stream TV on your computer via your Comcast broadband
connection, the service isn't technically offered over the Internet, but over
Comcast's cable television network, much like its Xfinity Xbox 360 service,
which allowed Xbox users to view video that didn't count against their data
limits and was shuttered last summer.
This arrangement won't affect many Comcast customers, at least at first. The
company only imposes a 300GB limit on users in 15 areas so far. According to
Ars Technica, which first reported that Stream TV won't count towards those
limits, some parts of Maine within the greater Boston area are the only areas
where Stream TV availability and data limits overlap. But Comcast plans to
expand Stream TV into other markets, and it might expand its data caps into
other regions as well. As it does, network neutrality advocates will surely
challenge Comcast's claims.
Zeroing In
Earlier this year the FCC passed the Open Internet Order, which bans internet
service providers from giving preferential treatment to some internet traffic
over other traffic, meaning that Comcast can't deliberately slow down, say,
Netflix streaming video while giving its own services a boost.
However, the agency hasn't outright banned so-called "zero-rating," which
allows customers to download or stream data from certain services without
having it count against their data limits. Instead, the agency will review
these services on a case-by-case basis. But Comcast is in a unique position:
under the terms of its merger with NBC Universal in 2011, Comcast is
specifically barred from zero-rating its own services while counting data from
competing services against a data cap.
Comcast argues that Stream TV is actually a cable television service, not an
Internet service, and as such doesn't run afoul of regulations. More
specifically, it's an "IP cable" service, which is typically delivered over
infrastructure shared with Internet service providers but subject to the same
requirements as traditional cable television services, such as the inclusion of
local programming and emergency broadcast services.
"Stream TV is an in-home IP-cable service delivered over Comcast's cable
network, not over the public Internet," Comcast said in a statement. "IP-cable
is not an 'over-the-top' streaming video service. Stream enables customers to
enjoy their cable TV service on mobile devices in the home delivered over the
managed cable network, without the need for additional equipment like a
traditional set-top-box."
Open Data
The Open Internet Order defines IP cable services as a "non-broadband Internet
access service" and specifically states that IP cable services should be
treated as cable services, not Internet providers. But the FCC did reserve the
option to evaluate non-broadband services on a case-by-case basis "in the event
that a broadband provider attempts to evade open Internet protections."
"We are especially concerned that over-the-top services offered over the
Internet are not impeded in their ability to compete with other data services,"
the Open Internet Order reads. The document also notes that the FCC will review
cases in which data caps are used to make a competing, internet-based service
less competitive.
The big question is whether the FCC will consider Comcast's data thresholds as
an anti-competitive ploy to keep customers from cutting the cord. Comcast
claims that its average customers use far less 300GB a month. But as
high-definition video streams grow more data intensive, and more customers turn
to streaming instead of cable television, those averages are bound to go up.
And as our readers point out, it's already possible for a household with
multiple people streaming video at once to exceed a 300GB cap.
So far, however, the FCC hasn't pursued other zero-rating plans, such as
T-Mobile's Music Freedom and Binge On services, which exempt music and data
streaming services customers' data plans. Just yesterday FCC chairman Tom
Wheeler said that T-Mobile's offerings are highly innovative and competitive,
but that the agency would "keep an eye" on them.
Stream TV, however, is considerably different than T-Mobile's offerings. For
one, it's an IP cable service, as opposed to a pure-play video streaming
service. And while T-Mobile's offerings in theory allow any music or video
streaming service to be zero-rated, Comcast is only zero-rating its own service.
Wheeler wasn't asked about Comcast's Stream TV service, but it's on the
agency's radar, FCC spokeswoman Shannon Gilson tells WIRED. "The Commission
staff is working to make sure it understands the new offering."
1 Correction: An earlier version of this article said that Comcast users who
exceed the 300GB limit are charged $30 a month extra. Actually, they are
charged $10 a month per 50GB extra they use, or between $30 and $35 a month,
depending on where they live, to go "unlimited."
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