Formally defends its controversial interference of P2P traffic in testimony before the FCC.
Comcast testified before the FCC in formal comments Tuesday that
hampering some file-sharing traffic by its customers was a justifiable
way to keep network traffic flowing for everyone.

The company's network management practices that cause a disruption
in BitTorrent traffic is the subject of formal complaints to the FCC
from consumer groups and law professors.

Both argue that Comcast is violating the principle of 'Net
Neutrality, that all Internet traffic should be treated equally
regardless of consumption levels. They say the company has ulterior
motives in hindering the downloading of video content since the
practice competes with its very own cable TV business.

I think this latter argument is the best one being that it's been
apparent to everyone for years now that a decent broadband connection
can deliver you all the movies and TV shows you'll ever want to watch.
Cable TV's model of making viewers subject to the whims of network
program schedules will make it increasingly irrelevant with an Internet
TV world that never sleeps.

Comcast says it must curb some file-sharing traffic because some
subscribers hog bandwidth that could be otherwise available to others.
But, who do they expect to purchase the faster packages that advertise
1MB/s DL speeds?

It also defended the way that it throttles BitTorrent traffic by
using "reset" packets to break off communications between two PCs.
Comcast sometimes inserts these packets in the data stream to kill a
file-sharing session. The move "fools" each computer into believing the
other computer wants to end the connection.

In their complaint with the FCC, advocacy groups Free Press and
Public Knowledge said Comcast was "forging" the return addresses of the
reset packets. File-sharing programs generally try to re-establish a
connection after receiving a reset packet, and Comcast may let
subsequent attempts through. More likely, though, the computer that is
requesting a file goes elsewhere on the Internet to find it.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is supportive of network management, but
has said providers like Comcast should be open about their practices.
What the FCC will be an important test of how far ISPs are allowed to
go in managing their networks. The main argument against it is that it
sets a precedence in which an ISP is allowed to favor some traffic over
others, thereby setting the stage for it to discriminate further by
type, size, etc...
Lease Reviewed by Lease on . [15/2/08]Comcast to FCC: 'Yes, We Throttle BitTorrent Traffic, but So What?' Formally defends its controversial interference of P2P traffic in testimony before the FCC. Comcast testified before the FCC in formal comments Tuesday that hampering some file-sharing traffic by its customers was a justifiable way to keep network traffic flowing for everyone. The company's network management practices that cause a disruption in BitTorrent traffic is the subject of formal complaints to the FCC from consumer groups and law professors. Both argue that Comcast is Rating: 5