FCC questions Comcast on interference with file-sharing traffic

Examiner.com ^ | 14 January, 2008 | AP

[brityank]

FCC questions Comcast on interference with file-sharing traffic

Jan 14, 2008 6:23 PM (4 hrs ago) AP

NEW YORK

- Comcast Corp. Monday said it has received letters of inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission regarding complaints that the company actively interferes with its subscribers' Internet traffic.

A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars asked the agency in November to stop Comcast from discriminating against the sharing of certain types of Internet data among subscribers.

Two groups also asked the FCC to fine the nation's No. 2 Internet provider $195,000 for every affected subscriber.

And Vuze Inc., a company that distributes video using BitTorrent file-sharing technology, later filed a separate complaint, asking the FCC to clarify how much power Internet service providers have in controlling traffic on their lines.

In an investigation last year, The Associated Press found that Comcast in some cases hindered file sharing by subscribers who used BitTorrent. The findings, first reported Oct. 19, confirmed claims by users who also noticed interference with other file-sharing applications.

[brityank]

The test was a BitTorrent transfer of "The Holy Bible" that Comcast blocked, and when called on it allowed it but at very slow speeds.

[an amused spectator]

A terabyte of storage on an external USB drive is about $250.00 and going down, down, down.

Let 'em block...

[brityank]

But how long will it take you to load that up on a 1.5Mb line?

[JoJo Gunn]

ping

[an amused spectator]

When a terabyte is 20 bucks, you'll pass around the data like party favors.

The content providers should already be selling external hard drives pre-loaded with your favorite music & movies.

Ask yourself why they're not.

[ShadowAce]

[Petruchio]

I HATE COMCAST!!!!

The bummer is I am 300 feet too far from the CO for DSL. My only choices for a HS connection is Comcast (sucks), Satellite (over $120/month), or a fractional T1 (over $300/month).

:-(

[papasmurf]

Hey, if had the abuse we go through here, you’d beg for Comcast.

[papasmurf]

Just to be clear, I don’t think they have a legal right to limit the consumer, as long as the consumer complies with their agreement.

Whether or not they can change their agreements to reflect their new “attitude” remains to be seen.

[Freedom2specul8]

I can’t stand it either. I would like to go back to road runner,but you know how everything is monopolized.

[cinives]

FIOS ?

[RockinRight]

Our choices are Verizon FiOS and Comcast. Too far for DSL. I have FiOS and while I’m glad I DON’T have Comcast, Verizon’s billing department is among the most horribly run enterprise in the entire universe. It seems that if you choose NOT to have a landline phone or cell phone with them and choose FiOS TV and Internet ONLY, they eat lead paint chips and turn into incompetent buffons. They have screwed up every bill since July when we signed up for their service. This month’s was actually correct so we’ll see if they’ve finally fixed it.

That said, the service ITSELF is superior to Comcast in most ways for Internet and the TV is pretty comparable but a slightly better channel selection.

[Petruchio]

- Comcast Corp. Monday said it has received letters of inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission regarding complaints that the company actively interferes with its subscribers' Internet traffic.

I wonder if this is related. Starting last Saturday I tried to look up something on the New Yankee Workshop web page. I kept getting an error that the server is not responding. Today same thing. I tried using an Anonymous Proxy Server. Instant connection! Now why would an Anonymous Proxy Server work and a direct link not work? Is @#$%@#$%^$%^Comcast blocking responses from the New Yankee Workshop server? WHY? What can be so harmful on a woodworking webpage?

Grrrrrr! I HATE frickin' Comcast!

[Petruchio]

Good to see you again Kim, been a looooooong time.

Here the network was built by AT&T Broadband and the service was great. 3 or 4 years down the road Comcast bought them out. Nothing but problems ever since. Two or three times a week it craps out for a few hours. then suddenly returns as if nothing happened. I have noticed this frequently just so happens to also be high Internet traffic times . . .
like Christmas Day . . .
or 7pm - 10pm . . .

It really makes me wonder when selective web pages like FReeRepublic or New Yankee won’t load but CNN will.

[Freedom2specul8]

W0W! It’s very nice to see you, and a pic too! I didn’t know that was you because of your name change. It has been a very long time! Hope you have been doing well. :)

We too have problems with comcast at night (or did).....and the repair guys (mostly contractors) we found out later are given $50 per house call, no matter how much time they spend here....so the last bumblers left the cords hanging outside, didn’t correct the problem, and failed to answer any investigating questions we asked. We called the company back as soon as they left, told them what happened, and sent a new guy out a few days later. he told us the major portion of his job is cleaning up the mess contractors leave. He did leave us with a clear/far better connection (including an amplifier)..and a plus. He said that everytime he has to clean up the bumblers’ mess, they don’t get paid. HA HA HA!

[Freedom2specul8]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/

another article too...
(excerpt)

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.

The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users.

If widely applied by other ISPs, the technology Comcast is using would be a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks. While these are mainly known as sources of copyright music, software and movies, BitTorrent in particular is emerging as a legitimate tool for quickly disseminating legal content.

—snip—

Each PC gets a message invisible to the user that looks like it comes from the other computer, telling it to stop communicating. But neither message originated from the other computer — it comes from Comcast. If it were a telephone conversation, it would be like the operator breaking into the conversation, telling each talker in the voice of the other: “Sorry, I have to hang up. Good bye.”