Comcast, bittorrent, fcc, gadgets, internet, net neutrality, p2p

Did Comcast Lie to Me About Slowing Down P2P Traffic?

When I was talking to Comcast for my round up of ISP network management practices (pre-BT deal), we talked a lot about how they manage p2p traffic, and they were very clear that the temporary slowdowns were "surgical," (their word) and only employed during heavy congestion. So I'd been using that caveat anytime I brought it up, out of fairness. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told a Senate committee this week that what Comcast told me wasn't true: "It does not appear that this technique was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time."

He continues that "Based on testimony we've received thus far, this equipment was typically deployed over a wider geographic area or system, and is not even capable of knowing when an individual ... segment of the network is congested."

Honestly, the Comcast/P2P/net neutrality story is a bit played out, and frustrating, because nothing material has really happened, and I'm actually sort of tired of it. The major reason I'm posting this is because I was specifically told something by Comcast PR—which I gave the benefit of the doubt, because while PR cajoles and spruces, they rarely intentionally deceive—which the chairman of the FCC is stating to be categorically untrue. That's unfortunate, and disconcerting.

While we should always fact check, we shouldn't have to worry about being lied to. I'm waiting for them to get back to me, and I hope there's just some mixed signals going on here, but their response to Computerworld, that doesn't flat-out deny Martin's accusations, isn't very reassuring. [Computerworld via /.]

8:36 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By matt buchanan
4,140 views
17 comments

Comments

CarbonatedWater at 08:47 PM on 04/23/08
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Comcast sucks the penis.
Rex Luna at 08:54 PM on 04/23/08
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Does this mean that they will be trying to "crack down" on news group usage as well?
TonyTriple at 09:12 PM on 04/23/08
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I'm glad that someone is smelling Comcast's dick. I knew they've been doing more dirt than the news has been reporting...
packetsniffer at 09:15 PM on 04/23/08
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"but Republicans are obviously not chill with that at all (since they don't like business regulation, generally speaking, not to provoke a political argument here)."
I just wanted to thank you, Matt, for being the only person on the Giz staff who has ever been fair and balanced. :^)
jackfrost132 at 09:27 PM on 04/23/08
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@packetsniffer: Yeah, Matt is quickly becoming one of my more favoured Editors. If he was on board with more of my evil schemes involving selling battered mice to hobos, then perhaps he could take the crown.
dead_red_eyes at 09:45 PM on 04/23/08
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Connectedness Index: 444
Brought to you by Acura TSX

@ MATT - "Two points though: If they were lying about P2P practices, should they be in charge of a P2P Bill of Rights?"

No, no they shouldn't. Fuck Comcast, and their smelly dick.
mhlaxp at 09:57 PM on 04/23/08
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Dear god, Comcast, how can you even think you're in the right ballpark on your actions if they're making people say "FUCK YEAH, FCC!"

Recently I've been automatically checking my speeds. If they are consistently below what Comcast has promised me, I'm going to demand compensation. If a lot of people do it, perhaps we can change something.

Of course, by the time THAT pans out I'll have switched, so who knows.
packetsniffer at 10:38 PM on 04/23/08
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@dead_red_eyes:
Do they all share a collective dick, or does each Comcastard have his own individual dick?
packetsniffer at 10:39 PM on 04/23/08
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@jackfrost132:
I like your kind of capitalism.
fastmike at 10:59 PM on 04/23/08
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I wasnt born a cynic but the older I get the more I think most company, corporation's mission statement is ....WE aim to drain....and thats our wallets folks
bryantracy at 01:19 AM on 04/24/08
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Forget peer to peer - how about not supporting VPN from home? Dropped VPN connection every 30 seconds!!

Comcast sucked 1/2 of a Saturday (site visit) and two one hour phone sessions before quietly admitting
they do not support VPN.

back to DSL i go....
johnson at 01:49 AM on 04/24/08
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This can be solved the American Way: Class Action Litigation.

...everyone loves mass tort.
kylo4 at 05:21 AM on 04/24/08
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Thanks for posting this Matt, in my opinion it shows you really care about your readers and you want to show them that you're as fact checking and reliable as possible. You could have easily made little mention of this but instead you wanted to make sure everybody knew what they had done. Good on you!
hagrun at 08:50 AM on 04/24/08
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Comcast probably doesn't want any of us to know the truth. The best tactic to achieve that is to lie and say oh wait we lied and keep everyone guessing. I know it sounds a little conspiracy-ish, but it seems feasible to me.
UofITom at 10:03 AM on 04/24/08
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Within the past month, Comcast in Chicago seems to have STARTED throttling P2P. It's only really noticeable during prime time, but as the hours tick over, you can watch the speed jump up in 100KB/s increments.
Pender at 03:55 PM on 04/24/08
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@CarbonatedWater: You say that like it's a bad thing!
Hello_Newman at 01:01 AM on 04/25/08
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Before you shout class action, what's going to happen is the lawyers are made into double digit millionaires and every gets a check for .67 cents to compensate them for measured bandwidth losses. Or more likely they'll get a free day or two of service if they are still customers, or maybe a nice voucher for a 100mb download?