FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says Comcast's P-to-P blocking appears to have been widespread
Grant Gross (IDG News Service) 23/04/2008 09:53:49
Comcast's slowing of peer-to-peer traffic appeared to be more widespread than the company has disclosed, the chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission said this week.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, testifying before a Senate committee, said Comcast's blocking of BitTorrent P-to-P (peer-to-peer) traffic appeared to happen when there wasn't network congestion, in contrast to claims from the broadband provider. Comcast's actions, first described by the Associated Press last October, appeared to "block uploads of a significant portion of subscribers" in that part of the network, even during times when the network wasn't congested, Martin said.
"It does not appear that this technique was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time," Martin told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "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."
The FCC is currently investigating Comcast's network management practices and has held two hearings about the complaints.
A Comcast spokeswoman issued a statement, repeating the company's assertion that it was slowing P-to-P traffic in a limited setting.
"As has always been our policy, Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any websites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services," the statement said. "We have acknowledged that we manage peer-to-peer traffic in a limited manner to minimize network congestion."
Vote will your wallets guys, if you're a customer of these slimebags, drop em like a hot brick if you can!!
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