Ed note: Sites like Slashdot are pitching this FCC filing as fresh news, but it is not. Comcast transitioned to the following mechanism by December 31, 2008. We are covering it today for the sake of discussion, and to offer facts–not FUD–to the public about what the US’ largest ISPs are doing to manage their networks.

A 2008 filing by Comcast (PDF) with the US Federal Communications Commission sheds light on the company’s throttling practices. The filing came as a result of the FCC’s 2008 Internet Policy Statement (PDF) which obligates ISPs to be transparent about their network management practices.

The entire throttling mechanism is centered around the Cable Modem Termination System, or CMTS. Comcast’s network contains 3300 CMTS units in the US, each serving approximately 4400 customers.

The throttling process begins when a CMTS approaches a congested state described as greater than 15 minutes of  >70% upstream utilization or >80% downstream utilization. Comcast calls this a Near Congested State, or NCS.

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Yesterday Comcast said it planned to continue throttling users on their network with protocol-agnostic traffic management. Comcast plans to impede the speeds of a bandwidth-intensive user “roughly between, probably, 10 and 20 minutes” says Comcast’s senior VP and general manager of online services Mitch Bowling. Comcast’s new approach to operating their network is the first of many such trials in an industry that claims to be struggling to keep up with the demands of its users.

Dubbed “Fair Share,” Comcast alleges that the new technique is for the health of its network. “If in fact a person is generating enough packets that they’re the ones creating that situation, we will manage that consumer for the overall good of all of our consumers,” Bowling said. Users who continue to generate intense traffic, regardless of its intent or purpose, will be managed until the traffic subsides.

The Philadelphia-based ISP recently found itself at the middle of a controversy when it came to light that it was surreptitiously interrupting users of the BitTorrent protocol with artificial packet loss. The ensuing flash mob of angry internet users and internet-era civil rights groups resulted in a public censure for the ISP.

Comcast’s commitment to the same practice on a broader scale is striking some as a disingenuous disregard for the spirit of the censure. Commenters have been quick to point out that the new practice continues in the same vein, while merely targeting additional people.

In light of the recent announcement that the new technology would be undergoing trials in select markets, Comcast was quick to defend itself. In a managed state, a user would have a connection that provided “a really good DSL experience,” Bowling said as he poked fun at competitors.

Proud owners of broadband in the contiguous US know no such silliness as a “Bandwidth cap,” but if greedy ol’ Time Warner has its way, it could be rolling out tiered pricing by the end of the year. If you always scoffed at the Euro broadband market and their draconian (Yet profitable!) restrictions, the mighty dollar is a fine seductress.

Sad.