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Comments on news posted 2008-03-27 10:06:26: Comcast and BitTorrent this morning jointly announced that by the end of this year, Comcast will migrate "to a capacity management technique that is protocol agnostic. ..

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newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Truth as a Comcast concept

quote:
By "more appropriate," he means doesn't involve packet forgery and a wholesale assault on one particular protocol.
I hope they also embrace the "more appropriate" concept of telling their subscribers the truth in the future.
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

gaforces (banned)

Member

Don't assume anything

It's probably a bad idea to assign meaning to what they say such as "he means doesn't involve forging user TCP packets."

It's more likely that they will whitelist legal BT so as to avoid lawsuits.

Pirates are still fair game.

pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium Member
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA

1 edit

pokesph

Premium Member

We'll see..

While it 'sounds' good on paper, we will have to wait and see what really happens here..

At least Comcast is bowing to pressure and doing something. Let also hope that these upload boosts get around to their whole footprint long before DOCSIS 3 does..

waiting.

BabyBear
Keep wise ...with Nite-Owl
join:2007-01-11

BabyBear

Member

Hazah!

Score one for the consumer!
quote:
Originally, Comcast compounded their problems with months of denials, half truths, and semantics when dealing with the press and public concerning their traffic shaping practices.
So with all that, we should be cautiously optimistic on Comcast's ability to follow through with what they are saying today.

Course this would make for in their eyes a great time for a rate increase, perhaps from $42 to $49. We shall see.
Anomaly95
join:2005-12-11
Phoenix, AZ

Anomaly95

Member

Wow

That was quick. I figured they would have dragged it out more.

Or are they afraid of a FCC decision?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode to gaforces

News Guy

to gaforces

Re: Don't assume anything

quote:
It's more likely that they will whitelist legal BT so as to avoid lawsuits.
That's what I was wondering...though the claim here is "protocol agnostic," so they'd be caught in a lie if they went back and started mucking about with even a portion of BT traffic...

justbits
DSL is dead. Long live DSL!
Premium Member
join:2003-01-08
Chicago, IL

justbits

Premium Member

CTO vs CEO

So, the CTO announced that they're changing their traffic congestion policy. Excellent. I look forward to reading about exactly what they're going to do.

But, what's this mean financially for the company and the customers? What's the CEO have to say? Is this just a means for justifying excessive increases in broadband prices for the next several years?

LeftOfSanity
People Suck.
join:2005-11-06
Dover, DE

1 recommendation

LeftOfSanity

Member

Hmmm...

Yea, now they will just start billing by usage.

I was never a fan of BT myself, anything I have ever tried to D/L with it took forever.

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
Humax BGW320-500

koitsu

MVM

"Round-trip" time

... by the end of this year, Comcast will migrate "to a capacity management technique ...

"This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems," says Comcast CTO ...
Nine months is apparently "rapid?" And how long did it take them to install a Sandvine? Nine months? I highly doubt it.

Give us a break, Comcast -- turn the Sandvine stuff off NOW, and then work with us (customers and public users) during the next 9 months to ensure that things are working smoothly.

POB
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium Member
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA

1 recommendation

POB

Premium Member

When Pigs Fly Out of My Butt

Well this story is just about the biggest lot of unadulterated, happy corporate PR horseshit that I've ever seen. I don't believe for one minute that Comcrap will completely get rid of the blocking/throttling. They'll just do it a lot more quietly now that all eyes are upon them. And in another 3-6 months from now, after the EFF has gone away and subscribers stop watching, they'll return to the practice.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

What if pirates don't use the new friendlier BitTorrent S/W?

"In the spirit of openness and fostering innovative
solutions, BitTorrent will take the first step in enhancing our client
applications to optimize them for a new broadband network architecture.
Furthermore, we will publish these optimizations in open forums and
standard bodies for all application developers to benefit from," said
Ashwin Navin, co-founder and president of BitTorrent, Inc.
And what if the pirates don''t use the new friendlier versions of BitTorrent and continue to use versions that don't play nice with the ISPs? What then?

LeftOfSanity
People Suck.
join:2005-11-06
Dover, DE

1 recommendation

LeftOfSanity to koitsu

Member

to koitsu

Re: "Round-trip" time

said by koitsu:
... by the end of this year, Comcast will migrate "to a capacity management technique ...

"This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems," says Comcast CTO ...
Nine months is apparently "rapid?" And how long did it take them to install a Sandvine? Nine months? I highly doubt it.

Give us a break, Comcast -- turn the Sandvine stuff off NOW, and then work with us (customers and public users) during the next 9 months to ensure that things are working smoothly.
12 months later:

I can see the multiple posts now

"HELP!! COMCAST STILL BLOCKING MY BT"
"Its been 1 year, but Comcast still blocks my BT!!"

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

TCP Resets a Red Herring?

This makes me wonder ... there was a huge outcry about disconnecting and throttling the heavy users, so I wonder if the Sandvine fiasco was a red herring ... the lesser of two evils so to speak.

Now, instead of everyone yelling about the bandwidth hogs, they've accepted that the bandwidth hogs will be throttled, but everyone else won't be. The problem is, who determines what a bandwidth hog is or what is deemed excessive usage?

Very clever ... or as Monte Burns would say, "Excellent!"
Jerkface
join:2005-06-05
Hackettstown, NJ

Jerkface

Member

comcrap

i have to agree that comcast will in fact NOT have this done in the upcoming year. Why dont i believe it? Because i have lost all faith in my isp. Just something that comcrap can put in the papers to show how "consumer-friendly" it is. blah

Kickroot
Java Heathen
Premium Member
join:2002-11-24
Honesdale, PA
ARRIS eXtreme SB6120

Kickroot to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode

Re: Don't assume anything

said by Karl Bode:

...so they'd be caught in a lie if...
You make it sound like they try to avoid that type of situation.

LeftOfSanity
People Suck.
join:2005-11-06
Dover, DE

LeftOfSanity to POB

Member

to POB

Re: When Pigs Fly Out of My Butt

said by POB:

Well this story is just about the biggest lot of unadulterated, happy corporate PR horseshit that I've ever seen. I don't believe for one minute that Comcrap will completely get rid of the blocking/throttling. They'll just do it a lot more quietly now that all eyes are upon them. And in another 3-6 months from now, after the EFF has gone away and subscribers stop watching, they'll return to the practice.
Some will never be happy.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode to Kickroot

News Guy

to Kickroot

Re: Don't assume anything

Point made, but if they were still planning to take action against illegal Torrents their PR people would have avoided use of the phrase "protocol agnostic" in the press release.

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

1 edit

Guspaz

MVM

Good news for Bell.

Congratulations, Bell, you've now managed to become more evil than Comcast! I didn't think it was possible, but you pulled through and proved us all wrong!

Don't forget, Bell, your next step should involve forcing every other ISP to cap their services by making wholesalers pay by the megabit AND by the gigabyte! Why double dip when you can triple dip?

Sabre
Di relung hatiku bernyanyi bidadari
join:2005-05-17

1 recommendation

Sabre to Karl Bode

Member

to Karl Bode

Re: Don't assume anything

Unless they were planning to take action against illegal material of any sort, whether distributed via torrent or otherwise? Wouldn't that still technically be "protocol agnostic"?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

True. This announcement could be followed in a year by a push where they attempt to purge all illegal content from the network via deep packet inspection like AT&T says they want to do...

There could also be a future scenario where official, sanctioned "BitTorrent Corp." BitTorrent traffic is considered the only legitimate BitTorrent traffic they recognize because they've struck content deals with Cohen and company.

But both of these scenarios would be PR napalm bombs. Can't really tell until someone can poke at the newly managed network later this year.

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

Doctor Four

Premium Member

If they actually make good on their promise

Then what they will likely do is throttle BitTorrent
traffic during peak periods, mainly if the node where
the traffic is being generated is at or close to capacity.

This is similar to what Time Warner is doing.

Or maybe they'll allow a certain amount, then charge
something like $2.00/GB over that.

Even though I may disagree with those who consider file
sharers thieves or those who use BitTorrent bandwidth
hogs, they do have a point: BT is one of the more traffic
intensive protocols - it can easily overwhelm most
consumer routers if connection limits aren't set in the
client. If it is doing that to routers, imagine what it
is doing to ISP network equipment.
deadzoned
Premium Member
join:2005-04-13
Cypress, TX

deadzoned

Premium Member

Too good to be true?

Sounds too good to be true to me. There has to be some sort of angle they are playing here. I just don't see why they would suddenly do an about-face on this issue - even with all of the blow back they have received on their draconian Traffic Shaping methods.

Maybe more to this story or something? I guess we shall see, I have to admit I have a pretty negative attitude overall about these companies in general. Maybe I will be surprised!
priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA

priller

Member

"Protocol Agnostic" means EVERYTHING


I must be reading this differently from everybody else. By saying "protocol agnostic", that means they will target ALL types of traffic, not just BT!

I wouldn't be congratulating them just yet.

birdfeedr
MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI

birdfeedr

MVM

"Protocol Agnostic"

"Protocol Agnostic" is PR-speak for all protocols. Nothing is off the table.

Until their network can sustain the traffic they purport to sell, I predict their "network management" will be to throttle all traffic. Whether they discriminate against the bandwidth hogs or against all subscribers at random remains to be seen.

The nature of their distribution method has them between a rock and a hard place no matter what they do.

They've already got "up to" language in their service description. They should throttle the heavy users back to let the lightweight's traffic get through.

But the key is to let subscribers know what they're doing. Transparency is good.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5

Premium Member

Talk about cutting the Comcast naysayers off

at the knees.

Today..they wake up to a joint press release from Comcast..

and bittorrent themselves.

OMFG!!

I'll tell you..anyone who says that this isn't one very progressive and responsive ISP has been barking up the WRONG tree.

Since being converted over from Adelphia last year..I've been continually amazed and impressed at what this company has done and offered us...taking us from 4400k speeds with adelphia to 30,000k powerboost speeds now.

At zero additional cost nonetheless.

And, as of late..it's been docsis 3.0 and their aggressive plans there..and now...this.

This is a company that if forward looking if I've ever seen one. And one that delivers a lot of value.

And today..with this announcement..they've proved it once again..even to the loudest and most vocal among BBR users.

Comcast..and Bittorrent..aligned.

Joint press prelease.

Amazing.

Simply..amazing.

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins to FFH5

MVM

to FFH5

Re: What if pirates don't use the new friendlier BitTorrent S/W?

Click for full size
If I rent this for $0.99, that makes me a pirate?
What about not calling all BT users pirates?
I use BT and it's for LEGAL items...
See pic.

If my friend is playing WoW and there is a patch or update... he's a pirate?
If I want to download the latest Knoppix, I'm "stealing"?

Yeah, you're right... I better stop, huh?

gatorkram
Need for Speed
Premium Member
join:2002-07-22
Winterville, NC

gatorkram

Premium Member

Everyone else..

I sure hope this means smaller providers will wake up as well, and smell the coffee.

It would really suck to have to do this all over again to all the other providers who have been doing the same exact things Comcast has been.

My eyes are wide open...

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

1 edit

dadkins to priller

MVM

to priller

Re: "Protocol Agnostic" means EVERYTHING

said by priller:

I must be reading this differently from everybody else. By saying "protocol agnostic", that means they will target ALL types of traffic, not just BT!

I wouldn't be congratulating them just yet.
Uhm... with rolling out Blast to many markets, then as you elude to targeting all traffic/protocols... that would be a PR nighmare!

"Here! Here's 16mbps down and 2mbps up for your things at break-neck speeds!"
"But, we are going to throttle all of it back to nothing... so you don't get shit after all!"

Yeah, that'll fly!

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Preventive Measure to deter possible Class Action Lawsuit

I'll Take the 'wait-n-see' approach also. I am personally am not into the P2P thing. However, I am a stickler for Honesty. I was recently contacted by a law firm last week, already involved in a Lawsuit with Comcast in DC. The letter stated that they (Certain Law Firm) along with a few other Law Firms are investigating the Feasibility of a class action lawsuit. I think Comcast has been fully aware of this for some time hence the TOS change with the arbitration clause and they (Comcast) putting forth some proactive agreements with BT & community.

JasonD
@comcast.net

JasonD to dadkins

Anon

to dadkins

Re: What if pirates don't use the new friendlier BitTorrent S/W?

said by dadkins:

....If my friend is playing WoW and there is a patch or update... he's a pirate?
If I want to download the latest Knoppix, I'm "stealing"?...
YES! At minimum it's stealing bandwidth without paying for it, regardless if the content is legal or not. The argument "I already paid for that bandwidth" doesn't fly when it clearly is an extension of someone elses business model.

Even these legal 'content' providers can't expect to use a business model that trounces over someone elses network for free.
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