Andre Yoskowitz
27 Apr 2008 18:33
AT&T has denied any rumor that it resets packets to interfere with network connections of P2P users, in effect denying any "throttling" of network traffic, like Comcast was accused of doing a few months ago.
AT&Ts statement comes as a response to a report released this week by Vuze, the HD BitTorrent-based client. The client has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make new regulations prohibiting ISPs from throttling P2P traffic. The report also posted "the median reset rates experienced by more than 1,200 "autonomous system numbers," which are unique identifiers for individual IP networks and routers, as monitored using a plug-in Vuze began offering last month." Using the plug-in, Comcast users had the most frequent interruptions with BellSouth (part of AT&T) coming in second.
AT&T has denied those finding however calling the measurements "misleading." Here is a good portion of the response letter.
"In response to your specific question about AT&T's network management practices, AT&T does not use "false reset messages" to manage its network. We agree with Vuze that the use of the Vuze Plug-In to measure network traffic has numerous limitations and deficiencies, and does not demonstrate whether any particular network providers or their customers are using TCP Reset messages for network management purposes. Given that Vuze itself has recognized these problems with the measurements generated by its Plug-In, we believe that Vuze should not have published these misleading measurements, nor filed them with the FCC. Moreover, as Vuze and others have acknowledged, TCP resets are generated for many reasons wholly unrelated to the network management practices of broadband network providers, which explains why resets may appear on networks of companies such as AT&T who do not use TCP resets for network management.
Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa made a response to AT&T though, after reading their response.
"Our data suggests that the reset rates for Bell South, which is owned by AT&T, were higher than for many other ISPs. Our data collection was credible and transparent, but not conclusive. Therefore, we decided that it was best to simply ask AT&T and others if they use reset messages as a network management technique. AT&T has now answered that they do not. We appreciate their response and hope all network operators will be as forthcoming. It is easy to debate methodology, but, given the shortage of facts and the gravity of the issues to our user base, it is difficult to criticize the asking of a fair question--what network management practices are you using?"
Comcast was of course caught throttling network traffic for P2P users and the backlash has been massive.