Comcast: We're Delaying, Not Blocking, BitTorrent Traffic

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

Questions for the math types on the list:  Is an infinite delay the same
thing as a block?  What about a 10-minute delay? A 10-second delay?
 
Richard
 
 
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/comcast-were-delaying-not-blocking-
bittorrent-traffic/
 
October 22, 2007,  9:41 pm 

Comcast: We're Delaying, Not Blocking, BitTorrent Traffic


By Brad Stone <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/author/bstone/> 

Tags: BitTorrent <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/bittorrent> , Comcast
<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/comcast> , piracy
<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/piracy> 

Last week, the folks at cable giant Comcast <http://www.comcast.com/>  asked
for more time to give a nuanced response to a report
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/>  that the company was blocking some
peer-to-peer traffic on its network. The public relations staff at the
Philadelphia company seemed genuinely baffled by accusations that it was
interfering with file-sharing applications like BitTorrent
<http://www.bittorrent.com/>  and Gnutella <http://www.gnutella.com/> . They
stubbornly insisted that they did not monitor or block any Internet traffic
- despite strong evidence to the contrary.

Today, Comcast tried to do a bit better - while sticking to its guns.
"Comcast does not block access to any Web sites or online applications,
including peer-to-peer services like BitTorrent" read a written statement.
"We have a responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good
Internet experience and we use the latest technologies to manage our network
so that they can continue to enjoy these applications."

Speaking on background in a phone interview earlier today, a Comcast
Internet executive admitted that reality was a little more complex. The
company uses data management technologies to conserve bandwidth and allow
customers to experience the Internet without delays. As part of that
management process, he said, the company occasionally - but not always -
delays some peer-to-peer file transfers that eat into Internet speeds for
other users on the network.

The executive declined to talk in detail about the technology, citing
spammers or other miscreants who might exploit that knowledge. But he
insisted the company was not stopping file transfers from happening, only
postponing them in certain cases. He compared it to making a phone call and
getting a busy signal, then trying again and getting through. In cases where
peer to peer file transfers are interrupted, the software automatically
tries again, so the user may not even know Comcast is interfering.

The executive also noted that peer-to-peer network users represent a
minority of Comcast customers, but that they use a disproportionate amount
of bandwidth.

...

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