Comcast Target of Net Neutrality Accusation

[Rob Williams]

If Internet content provider Level 3 is to be believed, Comcast, the largest Internet/Cable provider in the US, might be in the midst of a real net neutrality test. According to Level 3, which delivers a lot of the Internet's content to Comcast subscribers, Comcast has demanded a deal be settled where it would have to pay additional fees for delivering streaming video content, such as Netflix.

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Read the rest of our post and discuss it here!

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

I heard about this yesterday at college...I think comcast is just a money hog personally...we have them and we've had nothing but problems out of them since day 1. And your comment about BitTorrent...could that be why my friend who has Charter has gotten warnings to stop using BT or his internet will be shut off, but I've never gotten such a warning?

 

[Rob Williams]

No, those issues are separate.

The thing Comcast was accused of doing was throttling BitTorrent traffic, meaning that when downloading files via that method, speeds would be degraded. It'd be like downloading a torrent at 100Kb/s instead of the 1MB/s that your connection allows. I'm not sure if this issue still exists or not, but I do know the FCC slapped Comcast's hand because of it.

The reason your friend was contacted was probably because a content provider sent an e-mail to his ISP accusing him of downloading pirated materials. That's most often the reason for issues like these, because as a rule, an ISP can't tell you what you can do with your connection unless you break a law.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

ohh ok. wait...so THAT'S why my BT download speed went up a couple months ago! I seriously used to get only 118 kb/s download on BT, even with strong seeders. Now I'm getting 186kb/s, back on par with my regular download speed. hmm.