Audio Video News

A federal court ruling may permit internet service providers to starve certain online video operations of bandwidth, effectively threatening the growth of net-delivered video.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Comcast has a right to slow down BitTorrent, which is used to share video and music (though not always legally). The ruling knocks down net neutrality rules established in 2008 by the Federal Communications Commission under the Bush administration.

This may have serious ramifications not just for torrenting enthusiasts but also for users of YouTube, Hulu, and other online video sites. Comcast, which recently purchased NBC Universal, could use its ISP influence to throttle programming from other networks. Pretty much any ISP could slow down or incapacitate any online video operation that competes with its own video on demand offerings.

The ruling also undermines the FCC's right to regulate the internet, which may threaten the commission's ambitious national broadband plan.

See The New York Times.