Maven Mapper's

While one part of the government is working to help telecoms get a pass on tapping our phones, searching through our emails and reviewing our browsing habits, the FCC spent their time grilling Comcast for blocking internet traffic and bandwidth when it comes in the form of Bittorrent downloads.

These types of downloads are the last fad in Peer-to-peer file sharing of legal and sometimes dubious natures.  The government seems to be a little schizoid on both this hearing and on the role it should play in monitoring Americans in general.  They seem to want the ability to spy on Americans but fear giving that same ability or any other checks on corporations like Comcast.

Federal Communications Commission chief Kevin Martin on Monday targeted Comcast's contention that delaying peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic serves user interests, appearing to sympathize with the cable company's critics.

Through pointed questioning at a public hearing at Harvard Law School here, Martin, a Republican, seemed to be pushing a two-pronged agenda: Internet service providers like Comcast should be as transparent as possible about manipulating network traffic, and consumers should have the freedom to, in effect, get what they pay for.

But at the end of the event, which, all told, lasted nearly six hours, Martin told reporters he still hadn't made up his mind about whether Comcast had done anything more than "reasonable" network management.

Cnet

Maybe Comcast just hasn't used its budget this year to fly politicians south for the winter and enjoy some time at one of those Hilton Head rentals by the ocean.

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