Rich Fiscus
22 Aug 2007 8:22
Comcast is vehemently denying claims that they're filtering BitTorrent traffic on their network.
Broadband providers aren't exactly fans of BitTorrent because use of the protocol can create an excessive amount of traffic on their networks. Last week On TorrentFreak, a blog claimed that Comcast is cutting off BitTorrent transfers and even decreasing download speeds.
Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas denied that the company was filtering or "shaping" any traffic on its network. He said the company doesn't actively look at the applications or content that its customers download over the network. But Comcast does reserve the right to cut off service to customers who abuse the network by using too much bandwidth.
"More than 99.99 percent of our customers use the residential high-speed Internet service as intended, which includes downloading and sharing video, photos and other rich media," he said. "But Comcast has a responsibility to provide these customers with a superior experience, and to address any excessive or abusive activities usage issues that may adversely impact that experience."
In the rare instances the company has to enforce its policy, Douglas said that Comcast contacts subscribers to work out the issue. But he firmly reiterated that the company doesn't Filter or throttle back traffic.
Given the proliferation of television, and in some cases even near DVD quality content, being delivered over the internet there are legitimate questions about how capable internet providers are of consistently delivering the bandwidth they use as a selling point for their service.
Whether the bandwidth required for Streaming and downloaded video is available is certainly one of those questions, but another is whose responsibility it is to pay for it.
As online content and IPTV services attempt to compete with traditional cable and satellite providers, some of whom will be providing the bandwidth to make it possible, expect both questions to be hotly debated.
Source: CNet News