AfterDawn: Tech news

Comcast wants a P2P "Bill of Rights"

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Apr 2008 5:27 User comments (13)

Comcast wants a P2P "Bill of Rights" Comcast, the United States' largest cable operator, and Pando Networks, have jointly announced they will be issuing a call for a "P2P bill of rights and responsibilities". Comcast also said they would begin using Pando's file sharing technology software.
The two companies hope to "convene a group of industry experts" to talk about what options and controls are necessary for consumers using P2P applications. More importantly, the companies want to "address what processes and practices ISPs should use to manage file-sharing running on their networks." One of the questions they hope to solve is "whether P2P users should have the right to control their computers' resources when using P2P applications."



For the tests, both companies will "examine how file-sharing programs run on other ISP networks, including cable, DSL, fiber and wireless and measure things like performance, speed, distance and geography and bandwidth consumption."

It can be said that Comcast was forced into all its recent interest with P2P companies after the company saw intense backlash for its attempts to throttle and slow down file sharing activities of its users. For its part Comcast said the moves were done to reduce stress on its bandwidth costs.

More information as it becomes available.


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13 user comments

116.4.2008 18:21

seriously just f**** comcast and ISPs in general, my little ISP that provides service to most of central Oregon is now having a 10 GB limit for bandwith per month that is just bull S**t, I am so done with all this anti p2p and anti piracy stuff, piracy and p2p will never go away and the money hungry corporations need to get used to that.

216.4.2008 18:25

reduce stress on its bandwidth costs lol, those words always make me laugh. i was paying for 10mb down and 1mb up but i want allowed to use all of what i was paying for, things were running great until they called to inform me that i was using too much upload, i asked thetech on the phone if i was using over 1mb, he said no but i was using too much, i never did find out how much was too much before i told em to shove their internet up their *** and switched back to dsl, its slower but at least they let me use all of what i pay for without crying about stressing the network.

i was sure to ask the phone company if i was allowed to use the line for whatever i want before signing the paper work, they assured me the only time they would step in and do anything reguarding my online actions is if i was knowingly sending out viruses to other users.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Apr 2008 @ 6:29

316.4.2008 20:07

Originally posted by stuntman_:
seriously just f**** comcast and ISPs in general, my little ISP that provides service to most of central Oregon is now having a 10 GB limit for bandwith per month that is just bull S**t, I am so done with all this anti p2p and anti piracy stuff, piracy and p2p will never go away and the money hungry corporations need to get used to that.
Stuntman,

I think 10 GB is terrible, considering that dial-up at 53 Kbps works out to over 17 GB/mo..

Can you write to me with the name of this ISP of yours?

***Not so cleverly disguised email removed***

Thanks
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Apr 2008 @ 2:43

417.4.2008 00:25

no problem man I shot you an email

517.4.2008 00:41

if you pay for a service then you should be able to use every part of that service you paid for. if comcast wont let you use the bandwidth that you pay for couldn't you sue them? I am glad that i do not have to use comcast. my provider is mediacom and i have had no problems with them. i would never be able to use only 10gb a month. i have done more that that in one day.

@funchords -you should edit your email out, it is against forum rules.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Apr 2008 @ 12:43

618.4.2008 02:36

I am downloading each Trek film from the hdtv newsgroup and all of them at 1080i are around 16 gigs each!

Bell Sympatico issued a 60 gig cap for ALL users back in December, so I switched to TekSavvy and have truly unlimited downloads.

I wish we had some kind of supra-advanced wireless tech for our pc whereby we didn't need ISPs at all to share, but alas that seems 50 years away unfortunately. :(

718.4.2008 02:44

funchords, no email addresses per forum rules.

818.4.2008 12:34
r0b0t3ch
Inactive

Comcast wants "P2P bill of rights"??? Blow me Comcast!!!!!!

How about "I want Comcast put out of business as a last noble act of our crappy, devil's advocate president"

Comcast is a frakkin' DISGRACE to American Business and has just as much integrity as a typical politician. Highest prices in THE COUNTRY, worst customer service (due in part to them contracting out to Canadians eh). False advertising from that B.S. $33.00 per month for ALL 3 SERVICES and then later changed, to "the most HD channels including comparison to Directv" (Proven not true by a long shot). And now they want to single out a specific application (P2P is more an application and an "idea" more than it is a technology as it's part of the internet). Screw off Comcast!!!!! and SCREW OFF Comcast CEO/President.

Here's my thought............Americans remember the sniper of DC right?? That guy took out...........what............11 people??

What an ass. After the 6th or 7th shot. why couldn't he have redirected him aim to those that create negativity, cause communities to fail and blatantly screw the world...........like.............the Comcast CEO, President Bush and the Ex-FCC Chairman Michael Powell? All the wrong doers out there need only to target the right individuals and then they are saviours, martyrs and (dare I say) "criminal do-gooders". I wouldn't take someone out but it doesn't mean that I don't have a sh*t list a mile long of people that impede society's progress and happiness and need to be eradicated from the face of this planet.

920.4.2008 18:56

This was a response to a hearing that went very badly for Comcast. The FCC hearing found Comcast tampering with internet traffic and may fine Comcast. Comcast is trying to manuver. Smart move on their part. They will probably stop using Sandvines and go to the 3 strikes you are out routine like Cox. P2P users were better off dealing with Sandvines. Any torrent user not using forced encryption puts themselves in the same position as Limewire users sharing many tunes.

1021.4.2008 09:24

stuntman, thanks!

10 gigs quite insaine. I guess they have no competition. That is basically browsing and reading your email. That would exclude any streaming or serious downloading. A good connection can easily do 10 G in 12 hrs.

1121.4.2008 15:36

WE NEED A REVOLUTIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

1221.4.2008 16:58

according to them 90% percent of their users use 10 gigs or less every month but I call serious bull shit on that one

1323.4.2008 08:57

Stuntman, you are right, they are certanly full of sh1t!

ttx2008, you are also right! Maybe all the persons who have Comcast and are not doing much if any P2P ought to start up. I am thinking maybe it is time to come out of retirement even though I really don't want anything. I got what I wanted long ago and don't do movies. Why should I let all you guys have all the fun? I have Comcast and I am thinking maybe I want to take a crack at Sandvines. I have not downloaded Bit Commet yet but I am thinking maybe I will run that baby flat out on the weekend and see what damage I can do. I have top of the line hardware and used to be able to average 500 kb for 24 hrs. The more nodes able to defy Sandvines the more it will be taxed if I got it right. Sandvines attacks by sending packets. It can forge stop sending packets to un encrypted nodes. That is known for sure. What may be happening to protected nodes is, Sandvines sends as many packets as it can pretty much blocking the port through shear volume. If this is what is happening, the more nodes it has to deal with the less effective it can be. BC 1.0 is fully armored and has a powerful enough pump to maintain a high volume under a heavy Sandvines attack if the encrypion setting is set to on all the time. I just need to figure out if I will need my internet next week. I have heard if you are able to defy Sandvines it will keep up its attack for days after you stop. I work with a P2P addict. This means you will not have a useful internet connection for at least 24 hrs after you stop. This also means you need to have download all your torrents before you start. I need to figure out if I can really afford the loss of my internet connection for days before I pick a fight with the leviathan just for fun.

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