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How Comcast is doing blocking
From: <rms () computerbytesman com>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:11:37 -0400
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_on_hi_te/comcast_data_discrimination_ tests_4;_ylt=Alf7jUPUWXfOtUYue4QQqKEE1vAI AP tests Comcast's file-sharing filter By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer 56 minutes ago . Further analysis of the transfer attempt from the Comcast-connected computer in the San Francisco area revealed that the failure was due to "reset" packets that the two computers received, carrying the return address of the other computer. Those packets tell the receiving computer to stop communicating with the sender. However, the traffic analyzer software running on each computer showed that neither computer actually sent the packets. That means they originated somewhere in between, with faked return addresses. In tests analyzing the traffic received by a computer on Time Warner Cable that was trying to download a file from a large "swarm" of BitTorrent users, more than half of the reset packets received carried the return addresses of Comcast subscribers, even though Comcast's 12.4 million residential customers make up only about 20 percent of U.S. broadband subscribers. It was the only U.S. Internet service provider whose subscribers consistently appeared to send reset packets (which are occasionally generated legitimately). Comcast subscriber Robb Topolski, who discovered the blocking earlier this year and traced it to reset packets, pointed out that a Canadian company called Sandvine Inc. sells equipment that promises to save bandwidth for Internet service providers by managing and redirecting file-sharing traffic. BitTorrent Inc. President Ashwin Navin said that the interference method on Comcast's network is consistent with Sandvine's technology. Sandvine did not respond to a request for comment. Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas would not confirm that the company uses Sandvine equipment. "We rarely disclose our vendors or our processes for operating our network for competitive reasons and to protect against network abuse," he said.
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