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Comcast in more hot water over blocked content

16 November 2007 10:58 by Dave "Davedough" Horvath | 12 comments

Previously, we reported that Comcast was being sued by a customer for blocking peer-to-peer traffic on their network. It was believed that the person bringing up the lawsuit was using his internet connection for illegitimate means and speculation arose on whether or not his case might gain any ground. Well, it seems that the customers aren't the only people upset with Comcast's traffic blocking practices.

Vuze a company which offers legal movie downloads to paying customers via the BitTorrent protocol has recently filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission stating that Comcast is hindering their potential customer base by limiting said customer's bandwidth due to P2P traffic. In the official complaint filed, Vuze is asking that the FCC institute new rules which govern network management by ISPs.

The main complaint is that ISPs advertise that consumers need their service if they wish to watch movies and such online, yet throttle their bandwidth in the process. Vuze VP of Marketing, John Fernandes says, "They say that they're engaging in reasonable network management, but what they're doing is slowing down some traffic."

A group that promotes consumer rights on the Internet known as Public Knowledge praises Vuze's filing saying that Vuze is a good example of the harm that intentionally blocking can cause. Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn said, "Comcast's actions frustrate Vuze's business and force the company to devote resources to play a 'cat and mouse' game with Comcast in order to maintain superior service for its customers. We hope the FCC acts promptly before even more harm is done to more consumers and to more companies."

Source:
Yahoo

Permalink to this article

Comcast limits public access to FCC hearing by paying to fill seats (27 February 2008)

FCC chairman ready to take on ISPs over net neutrality (25 February 2008)

FCC hearing Monday on ISPs' network management practices open to public (25 February 2008)

BitTorrent developers working on encryption to defeat ISP interference (18 February 2008)

Comcast defends BitTorrent blocking in response to FCC (13 February 2008)

FCC to consider net neutrality and ISP network management (12 February 2008)

Time Warner to start bandwidth caps (17 January 2008)

With FCC investigation looming, Comcast repeats same old argument (14 January 2008)

CES 2008: AT&T looking for ways to scan customers' communications for copyright violations (9 January 2008)

CES 2008: FCC chairman promises investigation of complaints against Comcast (9 January 2008)

Vuze raises $20 million USD (21 December 2007)

FCC Chairman has Comcast in his sights (2 December 2007)

EFF details evidence of Comcast traffic management (29 November 2007)

Internet study shows P2P traffic reigns supreme in Internet (29 November 2007)

Mark Cuban upset with P2P freeloaders (21 November 2007)

Religious group says FCC may kill their broadcasting (20 November 2007)

Comcast gets sued for blocking BitTorrent traffic (15 November 2007)

FCC looks to deregulate cable companies further (12 November 2007)

Canadian ISP admits limiting P2P traffic (5 November 2007)

FCC complaint filed against Comcast regarding "network management" (3 November 2007)

Comcast employees put in the middle of traffic shaping debate (29 October 2007)

Senators urge committee chairman to hold Net Neutrality hearing (26 October 2007)

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Post your comment

Discuss this article!
ydkjman (Junior Member) 16 November 2007 11:22
It's good that some one like Vuze has gotten involved as well. Now they can't say it's all about people trying to get illegal stuff. [ + quote]
pryme_H (Senior Member) 16 November 2007 11:52
*Quote:* It was believed that the person bringing up the lawsuit was using his internet connection for illegitimate means and speculation arose on whether or not his case might gain any ground. This man should've patched up all the holes first prior to presenting his case. It'll be ironic to see this whole case backfire at him. [ + quote]
windsong (Junior Member) 16 November 2007 14:35
Someone should also take the fight to Bell Sympatico. It is a wonder that they even allow emule at all (as if emule wasn't slow enough all on its own without their incessant throttling). [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 16 November 2007 15:07
Wasn't this traffic throttling suggested to ISPs by the RIAA/MPAA as a means of combating piracy? [ + quote]
spydah (Junior Member) 16 November 2007 16:41
The more people and companies smacking Comcast the merrier. I hope some serious companies who got a strong financial backing jump in on this and force them to change their strategy. [ + quote]
mspurloc (Junior Member) 17 November 2007 0:32
Watch the stock, people. It's all about the dollars. They're losing subscribers left and right. Hopefully, they'll go bankrupt. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 17 November 2007 1:28
Oooo nice! [ + quote]
ali2007 (Inactive) 17 November 2007 6:39
yippi kaye , comcast sucks [ + quote]
7thsinger (Senior Member) 17 November 2007 8:29
Good. It's nice to see a company get involved that has it's legal holes patched so to speak. Comcast is a giant that needs to be throttled themselves a little bit. It's time to give all their customers what said customers are actually paying for. [ + quote]
B33rdrnkr (Newbie) 17 November 2007 11:20
All I have to say is To hell with comcast.... Fios is coming from verizon [ + quote]
pammu (Newbie) 27 November 2007 1:28
Oooo nice [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 11 December 2007 16:46
This is funny i see that this is legal or could it be illegal depending on the quality of the movies being sold?? [ + quote]