Comcast vs the FCC: What does this mean for us?

   So, a recent court decision coming out of the U.S. Court of  Appeals is, in fact, very interesting. It has to do with a coined term, 'net neutrality.' It involves Comcast, a major internet service provider and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The recent case involved Comcast's slowing or blocking users from some peer-to-peer sharing applications, which could be used to distribute large files such as movies or television shows. The FCC responded in complaints in 2008, ordering Comcast to stop its practices. But, the FCC does not have authorty over the worldwide web, neither does Comcast,right?

   So, Comcast decided to ask an appeals court whether the FCC had the authority to impose such restrictions or requirements on it. Comcast stated that they were essentially trying to block such services as BitTorrent in order to manage the internet traffic on its network in order to prevent degradation of its services for the majority of its users or customers. Essentially, the Court sided with Comcast, stating that the FCC failed to show that it had the necessary authority to impose such restrictions on the provider's network operations. This called in to question the FCC's ability to regulate broadband as a service, or the internet for that matter. The worldwide web is basically a free for all for everyone. Can the FCC try to regulate such a medium? We'll just have to wait and see what the FCCs next move will be. The Supreme Court or will they be happy with that decision? For now?