Justice Department investigates whether unmetered content is legal

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into whether unmetered video content from cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable breaches antitrust laws.

Ars Technica reports that the DOJ has questioned a number of cable providers on why videos viewed through services such as YouTube, iTunes and Netflix count towards user download limits, but video download services from cable companies remain unmetered.

Unlike Australia, where download limits and excluded unmetered content have always been common features of internet plans, such limits are a relatively new innovation in the US, with the full legal implications yet to be explored.