Public Knowledge

Following a Federal Communications Commission ruling that Comcast blocked Internet traffic and ordering the company to submit a compliance plan about how it intends to stop "discriminatory management practices," Comcast is planning a new traffic-managing system.

Called Fair Share, the system is intended to limit the heaviest Internet users over short periods of time.

'Time-Out' Mechanism

A U.S. appeals court on Monday ruled that Cablevision's DVR service does not infringe on the rights of content holders.

"We do not believe that an RS-DVR customer is sufficiently distinguishable from a VCR user to impose liability as a direct infringer on a different party for copies that are made automatically upon that customer's command," according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Cablevision's RS-DVR Paradigm

The Internet neutrality issue has once again taken center stage in Congress, where two bills are under scrutiny. During a hearing to discuss pending legislation, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet noted that commercial success for many Internet-based companies depends on an open Internet.