Comcast To Compensate Throttled BitTorrent Users

[mcablue]

Source: TorrentFreak

Comcast has decided to settle one of the lawsuits brought about over their use of the Sandvine BitTorrent throttling hardware to ‘manage’ their network. For those who were affected, there is the possibility of receiving a payment from a $16 million fund set up by the Internet service provider.

The Comcast BitTorrent throttling story is one of the major case studies for net neutrality. More than two years have passed since we broke the story that led to an FCC investigation and even lawsuits from affected users.

In one of the class action suits that were brought about from the long-running incident, Comcast has now agreed to settle, meaning those affected may be eligible for compensation.

About two and a half years ago, reports surfaced on what appeared to be the throttling of BitTorrent connections by Comcast. The throttling, first discovered by Rob Toplowski, was confirmed by TorrentFreak, and was first reported in August 2007. Other news agencies picked it up later, especially after tests by the EFF and Associated Press confirmed events and included reports that other network based activity was also affected.

Read more: http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-to-compensate-throttled-bittorrent-users-091222/

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PC Magazine is also covering this news: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357517,00.asp

[onehandle]

1. I will be eagerly awaiting my check.

Based on other settlements I have been a bystander to, I expect that check to be about eight bucks.

[glen123098]

2. Thanks for posting this

I'm a comcast user and active bittorrent user, so I will be expecting my money.

[mrdmk]

3. Having worked in the industry, Comcast is noted for having a crap system

So instead of fixing the plant (i.e. cables and repeaters) with state of the art upgrades, they decided to limit people use. Then they blamed persons for using high amounts of bandwidth. Yes, the FCC does have the authority to regulate a cable service.

As a side note, the media (pcmag.com) will not call out Comcast on the bullshit statement that the FCC does not have the authority...