On Monday, at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, the FCC held a public hearing on "broadband network management practices". The hearing essentially asked if Comcast and other access providers should have the ability to favor one type of content over another on their networks.

The consensus seems to be "No": today, the New York Attorney General's office subpoenaed Comcast on its network practices.

There are other opinions, some of which are easily dismissed, like this one:

Remember when Comcast got caught blocking web content? Well, prompted by complaints about recent actions by Comcast, the FCC -- the government agency responsible for regulating the Internet -- has asked the public to comment on whether or not the companies controlling the pipes should dictate what content gets through them.

This is a complicated issue that could have a pretty simple outcome for nonprofits across the country: your content could be blocked.

Lots of us work on issues that can be viewed as controversial. If you work in sex education or reproductive health, you've probably already had to cope with technologies that make it hard for you to deliver your message to stakeholders. Take just one example: NARAL Pro-Choice America text messages were temporarily censored by a mobile provider last fall.

But it's not just sex talk that's in jeopardy. Without protection, any organization's work could be blocked at any time, for any reason. It's important that nonprofits engage in this debate and actively shape the outcome here.

You can get involved today: leave your comment with the FCC. The agency is accepting comments through February 13.  Our sector needs to be represented.

The issue of Net Neutrality has come to the fore again. A couple of weeks ago, we told you about advocacy text messages temporarily blocked by a carrier. Last week, independent tests confirmed that Comcast is blocking access to some data.

From the article:

Comcast's technology kicks in, though not consistently, when one BitTorrent user attempts to share a complete file with another user.

Each PC gets a message invisible to the user that looks like it comes from the other computer, telling it to stop communicating. But neither message originated from the other computer — it comes from Comcast. If it were a telephone conversation, it would be like the operator breaking into the conversation, telling each talker in the voice of the other: "Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye."