Justice Department Is Said to Investigate Cable Companies Over Internet Video The Justice Department is investigating the cable TV industry's behavior toward online video competitors, raising the prospect that the government will intervene in the complex and rapidly changing ways in which consumers watch entertainment programs. A person with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed that the Justice Department is probing the use of Internet data caps by cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, as well as other practices by the companies. At issue is whether these caps on users" downloading and uploading discriminate against Netflix, YouTube and other new digital video competitors of the cable companies, which bundle video channels together in packages. The investigation, first reported Tuesday night by The Wall Street Journal, is in its early stages, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. The major cable companies declined to comment on Wednesday, as did the Justice Department. But public interest groups that have pressured cable companies not to limit customer access to the Internet celebrated the news of the investigation. "We're really glad Justice is looking at how cable can squash competition," said Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge, a Washington-based digital rights group. This is the critical moment. If the government doesn't step in to protect public interest now, you're going to lose your chance. There are several factors that could be motivating the government to investigate cable company practices now. For one, it is reviewing a proposal by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other companies to transfer some wireless spectrum to Verizon. Also, it is monitoring Comcast's takeover of NBCUniversal, which took place last year after a lengthy review by government regulators. In a consent decree with the Justice Department when the acquisition took place, Comcast committed to not "unreasonably discriminate" in relation to the Web traffic of its users. As part of a follow-up process, the department is studying whether Comcast is living up to that commitment, according to the person with direct knowledge of the investigation. Netflix has accused Comcast, in particular, of favoring its own online video service, Xfinity, at the expense of others, a practice that could be deemed anticompetitive by the government. Comcast has defended the practice. For years, Comcast has enforced a cap of 250 gigabytes a month for its customers as part of what it calls reasonable network management. But Comcast was exempting the use of Xfinity, Comcast's own online video Web site, saying that use would not count against that cap. Comcast says Xfinity videos are delivered over the company's own network, not over the public Internet. But Netflix and others cried foul and some public interest groups accused the company of anticompetitive behavior. Last month, Comcast raised the data cap and said it would no longer enforce the limit as it explores new pricing plans based on usage. Edward Wyatt contributed from Washington. An earlier version of this post misspelled the surname of a spokesman for Public Knowledge, a digital rights group. He is Art Brodsky, not Brodksy.