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Comcast targets uploaders (updated) - February 13, 2008

Revealing details of its network management practices for the first time, Comcast Corp. said in comments filed with the FCC Tuesday that it only screws with "unidirectional upload sessions" (i.e. when a computer is only uploading data, not simultaneously uploading and downloading) and targets only protocols with a "demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network based on objective criteria applied equally to all Internet protocols" (i.e. BitTorrent).

The 80-page filing is dismissive of what it calls the "extremist rhetoric" and "ginned-up" consumer complaints contained in the petitions filed with the FCC by Vuze, Free Press and others that prompted the commission to investigate Comcast's practices:

Comcast further asks the Commission to make it clear that it will not be drawn into second-guessing the reasonable network management decisions that engineers and service providers must make on a daily -- and sometimes hourly -- basis to respond to a dynamic and ever-changing Internet. These critical decisions should not be based on the demands of the vocal minority who make the most noise in public forums, but on what is needed to serve the best interests of all Internet users.

Revealing details of its network management practices for the first time, Comcast Corp. said in comments filed with the FCC Tuesday that it only screws with "unidirectional upload sessions" (i.e. when a computer is only uploading data, not simultaneously uploading and downloading) and targets only protocols with a "demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network based on objective criteria applied equally to all Internet protocols" (i.e. BitTorrent).

The 80-page filing is dismissive of what it calls the "extremist rhetoric" and "ginned-up" consumer complaints contained in the petitions filed with the FCC by Vuze, Free Press and others that prompted the commission to investigate Comcast's practices:Revealing details of its network management practices for the first time, Comcast Corp. said in comments filed with the FCC Tuesday that it only screws with "unidirectional upload sessions" (i.e. when a computer is only uploading data, not simultaneously uploading and downloading) and targets only protocols with a "demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network based on objective criteria applied equally to all Internet protocols" (i.e. BitTorrent).

The 80-page filing is dismissive of what it calls the "extremist rhetoric" and "ginned-up" consumer complaints contained in the petitions filed with the FCC by Vuze, Free Press and others that prompted the commission to investigate Comcast's practices:

Comcast’s network management practices (1) only affect the protocols that have a demonstrated history of generating excessive burdens on the network; (2) only manage those protocols during periods of heavy network traffic; (3) only manage uploads; (4) only manage uploads when the customer is not simultaneously downloading (i.e., when the customer’s computer is most likely unattended) (“unidirectional sessions” or “unidirectional uploads”); and (5) only delay those protocols until such time as usage drops below an established threshold of simultaneous unidirectional sessions.

The FCC will hold a public hearing on broadband network management practices Tues., Feb. 26 at Harvard Law School.

UPDATE: Free Press, which filed one of the original petitions that triggered the FCC's investigation of Comcast's bandwidth management practices, will be filing additional, extensive comments on the issue later today, reporters have been alerted. In a preview, Free Press's Ben Scott said on a conference call with reporters that Comcast's targeting of BitTorrent traffic represents a "paradigmatic example" of why such practices need to be regulated by the FCC. "They're using discriminatory practices to discriminate against a specific application," he said. "Other network operators, like the telcos, they don't target specific applications when their networks get congested. They throttle all of the bits on the network."
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