Comcast changes traffic policies, win for torrents
Comcast, the US largest residential Internet provider, said on Thursday that it would take a more equitable approach toward managing the ever-expanding flow of Web traffic on its network. The cable company, based in Philadelphia, has been under relentless pressure from the Federal Communications Commission and public interest groups after media reports last year that it was blocking some Internet traffic of customers who used online software based on the popular peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol. Comcast said it would change its fundamental approach to playing Internet traffic cop.
BitTorrent president and co-founder Ashwin Navin
Instead of interfering with specific online applications, it will manage traffic by slowing the Internet speeds of its most bandwidth-hogging users when traffic is busiest. “In the event of congestion, the half percent of people who are overutilizing an excessive amount of capacity will be slowed down subtly until capacity is restored,” the chief technology officer for Comcast, Tony G. Werner, said. “For the other 99.5 percent, their performance will be maintained exactly as they expect it.” Mr. Werner said he hoped to have the new system in place by the end of the year. The change was part of an announcement by Comcast on Thursday that it had been working with BitTorrent, a company that was co-founded by the creator of the BitTorrent protocol.
The start-up, based in San Francisco and supported by venture capital, helps media companies deliver their files over the Internet using BitTorrent technology. Consumers also use the protocol to share large files like movies. The companies said they have been working together for the last year on ways to optimize BitTorrent applications for the Comcast network. They said they would publish their findings to Web forums and standards groups so that other software makers, peer-to-peer services and I.S.P.’s could adopt them. “What we really want is not only for Comcast to be a better network but for all networks to be better,” the president of BitTorrent, Ashwin Navin, said. I see the light at the end of the tunnel…
Source: NY Times
Comments(69)
its called if u use alota BW in the threshold period them cap u till like midnight. if u pay for a 8mb line u should get a 8mb line. and they dont specify HOW MUCH u can dl.
comkast suks
Sounds like someone needs to take the gobs of money they are making and upgrade there crappy network. As soon as FIOS is in place everywhere they are doomed
now just use ratiofaker from http://www.torrentcentral.net , 100% undetected on private trackers
@ #2
i agree with you, if you do pay for 8mb you are entitled to get it but what concerns me is ,what is the description comcast uses to classify an internet hog.
but look on the bright side this my stop excessive leeching….
Excellent! I was one of those who formally complained to the FCC. Glad to see our voice is being heard!
Dear Comcast, learn from this and invest some of those billions of profits into your networks infrastructure instead of traffic shaping or playing internet cop and everyone wins. Simple.
Less traffic for Comcast if you avoid Brendan’s joox links. However, Brendan did save Comcast traffic, as few/no girls visit Rlslog.net anymore after Brendan’s attacks scared away Miss Bell and other girls making this site a boy’s only club.
This is a much more reasoned response but it doesn’t address the underlying issue. Comcast, and all ISPs, need to be investing in increasing their capacity. The US invented the internet but we have steadily been falling behind other developed nations when it comes to broad band.
@4
Good luck on having Fiber throughout the states. Most cities proposals include a raise in tax to install it. Then the phone companies get to rape us for $100 more a month. My city just voted it down last year.
Kinda like a sports stadium. The city pays and the team owners collect the revenue.
The US telecom market is an anachronism. Yes, an anachronism.
$$$$$$$$$$$$
Commiecast bastards. Invest in your network and give your customers what they pay for.
Huge profits.
Where is Verizon? Save us!
$$$$$$$$$$$$
Virginmedia has already implemented this reduction technique and it is a pain in the you know where. Peak time on the net is 4pm to 9pm so i can only download so much before i get my speed reduced to one quater of what i am paying for. The restrictions are ’supposed’ to wear off at 9pm but there are nights my speed wont go back to normal til around 1am-2am!
The only solution is to stop all downloading and seeding at 4pm then start again after 9pm, its the only way you wont get your speeds reduced! To all comcast uses, i feel for you but it looks like allot of ISPs are going to adopt this technique.
@ #7:
Indeed!!! Was also one of the formal complainers LOL
Other articles of itnerest:
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1256
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2007/12/14/eff-flogged-over-comcast-report/
http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2008/01/comcast_the_int.html
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9878330-7.html
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/62323.html?welcome=1206725281
LMFAO @ KeystoneKop
“The US invented the internet”
Internet Invention Information for the n00bz:
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/history/inventednet.html
@14
It was formally called ARPANET or DARPANET. It’s birthplace was the US
win for torrents???? no way. they clearly said they will interfere with all protocol including torrents:
“…will manage traffic by slowing the Internet speeds of its most bandwidth-hogging users…”
If anyone is interesting in seeing virginmedia’s traffic management FAQs, heres a link – http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html
It fcuking terrible! lol
Bye Bye high quality Video- and VoiceOverIp, unless of course, its somekind of Comcast pay feature. HD Videos to download for rent? sure when its a comcast service… i pity the people who dont have a choice.
glances at the picture i thought it was a screener of Harold & Kumar 2… sadly.. it isn’t… I am now deeply saddened.
@4 That sh*t clearly works, I just tested it.
However, once I closed it, Avast Antivirus showed up LOADS of viruses appearing. Then my MSN messenger got infected too. Just done a scan, like 8/9 files were infected and appeared today.
I don’t know if its the whole program which is virus infected or what, but I’m not gonna sacrifice my computer for the sake of a good ratio.
@21
The exact same thing happened to me too!
For anyone else, DONT TOUCH IT, ITS GOT MULTIPLE VIRUSES!!!
@4, you should get a life knobhead.
Get something other than “comcast?
Or are we playing monopoly?
http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/9303f627f74d8922e24dbe309730ef68
@21,22
Oh… suits you, sir! suits you!
That’ll teach you the results for being cheap ass cheating
bastard. Oh… and those “ratio cheater” proggies does not work everywhere. And when they do work, they’re not undetectable either.
I kinda agree with #4
I’d rather have this than have them start charing me more for service if I use high bandwidth.
Or better than having them cut me off. They threatened me once with that (I was in the top 1/10th of a percent of users) if I did it again. hat was their only criteria, someone’s allways going to fit in that percentage even if everyone barely used it.
Plus I reduce myself during peak times sometimes anyway. I don’t want torrents or anything like that running while I’m trying to surf…
Oh, such pitty lies. I don’t believe a word of it at all. I KNOW that they’ll still send threats and limit speeds. Comcast: Love ya to death, but hate you with a passion.
@25
http://ratiomaster.nrpg.info/
Many companies and sites even power companies shape traffic. It’s done all the time just indiscriminately and that what this is about. This excerpt is a bit bias. Check out @13 links and torrentfreak.com for more INFORMATION and less witch hunt.
Jonny , it is Password stealing Trojan:
http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/99539ce8514c9da796b9110e46f79320
if you pay for speed you MUST get your speed. especially if there is NO download ratio defined. if you dl bytes 24/7 then it is just “bad” luck for provider. period. they have 99,9% of regular “grandmothers” just clicking email so what is to worry about?
change it if you can. get fiber. protest. fight. damn money suckers they are. so much for customer experience.
The only people this affects are the people who actually use the protocol properly and give back just as much as they get. This isnt a solution to the problem. In fact, this is probably an even bigger attack on the BitTorrent protocol than their previous throttling attempt (which was easy enough to bypass). They are attacking the few who ACTUALLY share what they get, which (at least in their minds) further destroys the torrent network by removing the uploaders…No uploaders = no downloaders…
As$ holes…
And #1 Bubba is bloody right! I pay, I get! And #9 is right, too. The government is not only allowing the Comcast monopoly to continue existing, but they are also helping them build their networks! WTF did Comcast invest in to make their company possible?! Which all means, you are paying Comcast so that you can pay Comcast…Fking democrats…Its people like Hilary Clinton that allow this bullsht to continue…
I kinda understand where they’re going with this… I mean, you can’t hog it up with a typical line, but I can understand why they should limit some of the HIGH lines? (I’m guessing somewhere up from 100mb/s..?) But it must really suck if you are HOSTING something of great bandwidht, and they start throttling it… but, yet an other good reason to live outside of the states
PLEASE SOMEONE DELETE THE LINK #4 GAVE US AND BAN THIS IP!
THE LINK HE SENT IS A LINK FOR TROJAN DOWNLOADER PROGRAM!
CHECK IT BY YOURSELF!!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
re comment 12
do what i did and clone your modem,that way you have two addresses, flick over to your clone and then back to your proper modem that way it resets your d/l usege and carry on d/ling as normal
Yeah Bash –
I used to get nasty letters from Comcast back in the old days when I used Limewire (and didn’t know any better). Lucky for me I had a chance to move to Denmark. Love it here. My provider doesn’t care what I do or when I do it.
Unfortunately the States suck. It’s because you get the government and companies you deserve. Find another provider. Lots of smaller mom and pop ISP’s out there that will love your business and will turn a blind eye.
As for @33’s comment. You think the Republicans would be any better. They’re all about screwing people for money. Grow up and read a History book. TURN OFF YOUR PLAYSTATION!
The ISPs in the US really sucks it seems. Seriously.
It reminds me of the time they were going to stream an uncompressed 4096×2160 signal to my University from Japan. The US were the only country on the route which couldn’t give them the dedicated 10 Gbit link needed.
Luckely the problem was easily solved by taking a completely different route.
I can promise you that they haven’t stopped yet… My comcast line have supposedly been out of order for a week. First time i called they had no record of my service with them. Immediately after that it was my modem… it was so clear to the supporter who minutes earlier declared that i did had comcast service…. unfortunately they couldn’t get a tech guy out until tuesday. Nobody showed up on tuesday… the tech guy had no record of the scheduled visit to my house. Finally at 11am the technician shows up and says he fixed whatever was wrong with it…. and 10 minutes after i started my nntp traffic …. I got a http kill….
I have Comcast and nobody caps my speed. I pay for 8M and I get 12M. LOL! The only problem I have is that any time you add or remove something from your account, their system automatically drops your speed to basic (4M). That and their customer service is made up idiots who can’t speak proper English or string a coherent sentence together without reading it from a script.
This isn’t a “win for torrents”. Welcome to the world of FAIR USAGE where that 0.5% they talk about is YOU. Enjoy having your speeds raped just because you download 80GB+ / month. I speak from experience.
I know that nobody can prove who I am, but you have my word that its still me, who got infected by #4’s comment’s link.
I’d like to say that I found the original which they implanted with the trojan-downloader code. To download the actual file, get this link here: http://www.moofdev.org/passdld.php?url=/download/RatioMaster-1.7.5.zip
If you don’t trust me, which is fair enough, then visit the site. It’s genuine. http://www.moofdev.org/
Hope everybody who got infected had a system restore point or other to correct the problem.
ViZ
damn .. could someone pls delete those fake-ratio-tools-sites comments ?!
torrent is a p2p programm! so be fair and share your files .. otherwise pay for an RS/usenet axx .. idiots ..
cheers
ViZULiZE:
RatioMaster-1.7.5.zip
http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/99539ce8514c9da796b9110e46f79320
@41
This is a win for all!
Does Comcast guarantee bandwidth… no. There sales pitch is “up to x times faster…” Does DSL guarantee bandwidth… yes. So, Comcast is uncapped and susceptible to traffic problems, DSL is not. But which is generally faster for the buck… Comcast. Traffic shaping is nothing new and many industries do it, it’s the issue of discrimination that the FCC addressed. Where this affects Comcast is VALUE. If their traffic shaping becomes to intense there left with few options.
1. Invest in their infrastructure.
2. Lower their rates.
3. Lose customers.
Next on the agenda, break up the monopoly and the issue is over.
@42, yea i’ve had problems too with this troyan.
Somehow latest SPYBOT-Search & Destroy and SPYWARE TERMINATOR (both free utilities) managed to desinfect my PC after 10 reboots.
Just don’t let it infest registry, else you’re screwed!
If it don’t help, remember the filename (*.dll in System32 dir) and reboot your PC in SAFE mode. Then find the file and delete it manually!
Hope it helps…
PS. Reinstalling Windows won’t help…
Some of us have no options other than comcast, like me.
Obviously, uncapped craziness is possible, but no way in hell will that ever happen. They want more B/W for themselves so that they can sell it. Period.
Great! Now the next step is to pressure Rogers Cable up here in Canada to do the same. When they advertise “unlimited bandwidth” and then they throttle to me it’s just plain old false advertising. It’s not that I believe that I’m utilizing the full 10 MB download as advertised but don’t throttle me down to 5 kilobytes a second. It’s not the bit torrent community’s problem that only 5% of users know how to utilize the high bandwidth that they’re paying for. Don’t punish the average bit torrent user because Johnny know nothing uses the internet to just for chatting or sending email.
For all you clueless fools who can’t read a service agreement. You don’t pay for 8MB and you DON’t get a guaranteed speed.
by accepting the Comcast contract ( and most others )you thereby give them the right to use your personal information to affiliates, sales teams etc., they have the right to eavesdrop on your communications (yes, read it yourself) and have no obligation to provide you with a service that is unhiunered or regulated as they choose. Look at most other contracts that fall under the FCC or CRTC guidelines and you will see the same clauses.
“Facilities Allocation. Comcast reserves the right to determine, in its discretion, and on
an ongoing basis, the nature and extent of its facilities allocated to support HSI, including,
but not limited to, the amount of bandwidth to be utilized and delivered in conjunction with
HSI.”
“Comcast is not responsible for any information
provided by you to third parties, and this information is not subject to the privacy
provisions of this Agreement or the privacy notice for the Services. You assume all
privacy, security and other risks associated with providing CPNI or personally identifiable
information to third parties via the Services. For a description of the privacy protections
associated with providing information to third parties, you should refer to the privacy
policies, if any, provided by those third parties.”
All this clueless ranting about payign for 8MB and that they can’t limit your bandwidth yadayada is just old crap. I’ve seen teh dorks lose in court and end up paying for the ISP’s court and legal expenses to boot. (again as outlined in the contract)
For people suposedly comuter savvy, there sure are a lot of clowns without a clue making a lot of noise about nothing.
Get over it, you sold your soul when you took on the service, you gave up your Constitutional right to privacy and let them do what they want, all because you just HAD to connect. Now deal with it, morons!.
READ THE FREAKIN’ BOLD CONTRACT PRINT NEXT TIME!!!!
@48 -Harvey
Don’t be a dork! Rogers has the same agreement everyone else does. You get UP TO 10MB and the unlimited bandwidth is simply that your CONNECTION TIME is unlikmited. YOu can connect 24/7 can’t you? This isn’t time sensitive dial up anymore. Man, you guys get fooled by the most blatant marketing!
It’s not false advertising, its your inability to comprehend English and to read a contract yourself, instead of just hearing the marketing pitch and assuming you know what it means.
The Rogers Canada TOS is right here: https://your.rogers.com/about/legaldisclaimer/TOS_Eng.pdf
You’ll be interested to find out just how they can sell yoru name, use anything you post or publish online (pictures etc. become their property too) etc.
Can’t believe that people are so dumb they can’t figure this stuff out before shooting their mouths off. Pretty sad bunch, no wonder its easy to get ahead in the world, everyone else is brain dead!
@Dirtbag
Don’t get me started on privacy!
Dammit you got started…Privacy on the net these days requires at least:
Open/hacked Wi-fi, Knoppix (Live CD OS), SMAC (prey they’re not using SNORT) or use disposable NIC/laptop, a VPN that doesn’t keep records that was paid for with a disposable credit card and a disguise. Not all that tough.
The problem is these are the same techniques used by Al Quida and all other boogy men. So if the bad guys remain anonymous and the good guys activities are chronicled, it’s pointless. My CCNA instructor used to say he loved beginning every phone conversation with “bomb, president, kill” he said that way at least someone was listening to him. What it all means to you and me, more junk mail just tailored to our likes. So where’s my free porn subscription offers you ask, check your email!!!
@37
Oh wow, do I hate stereotypical as$ holes…Never said I was Republican. Stupid people who assume there are only two sides need to grow a brain and learn what true politics and economics are really about…You couldnt be more wrong (especially about the dumb playstation comment…).
Libertarians FTW. Im moving to Hong Kong…It might actually be nice to have the option to choose which internet provider that I want…
FiOS? Verion’z FiOS? That stuff BLOWS!!! 5Mbps for $40/month. That is terrible!
Out here in Utah we have UTOPIA optical which has 15Mbps for $40 and 50mbps for $55, AND the upload is the also 15Mbps or 50Mbps!
OK People, the link for torrent ratio is a link for Virtumonde trojan, one of most hard to delete from system…
So, you’ve been warned, and users who post this shall be permanently banned from the whole internet!!!
suxx to be in USA, for 14e in easter europe u can get 100Mb/s internet.
I love it
“Consumers also use the protocol to share large files like movies.”
interesting
It’s not much better here in canada. I just got a stupid letter from Rogers saying that they will actually start enforcing their bandwidth cap and how much I have been using (60gb limit, have an unlimited usenet account, you do the math). I wanted to switch to Tek Savvy, a company with a great rep for people like us, but they buy their landlines wholesale from Bell (As$hole incarnate) and they throttle their wholesalers!. WTF!
The worst thing about that stupid letter was that it had 3 paragraphs on how good of a job they are doing and how they are glad to be of service. This feels as if the ministry of health sent me a “we are dedicated to your healthcare” spiel, please find enclosed a cyanide pill.
I have had dsl and cable from sbc and rr and both seem to ween off the bandwidth after its been downloading for a bit. Although it only happens to my torrent traffic, p2p always downloads full speed.
I have time warner and I just upgraded to 1mb up and 4 down for 30$ a month. they shaped any speeds so far and i pray they never do.
ppl pay for bandwidth , 2mb or 8mbit, i think its cheeky to slow peoples speed down because they have the audacity! to actually USE THE BANDWIDTH THEY PAID FOR!!!!!!!!!!!
Net needs to be socialized, like public schools, roads etc. already are.
100mb should be enough for now.
Now the system is such that some are left out, which creates problems for the whole society.
In what country is that?
“suxx to be in USA, for 14e in easter europe u can get 100Mb/s internet”
And what is the average income?
Im pretty sure none of this will change Rogers Cables policies here in Canada but it would be nice.
Had to switch a year ago to dsl after torrents stopped working the fastest I would get EVER would be 0.9kbps!! I mean slower than freakin dialup!
I tried calling them asking about it they said they can’t provide support for filesharing applications…im like how is it that i can download stuff directly @ 500kbps but when its p2p torrents they never break the 1kbps mark?? A$$HOLE if i paid 49.95 for “extreme” cable I’m not gonna just use it for checking my email.
So I switched to DSL and couldn’t be happier….i got the added bonus of being able to disconnect to get a new ip so I can download more rapidshare/netload instantly without having to wait an hour!
=D
BitTorrent founder is an Indian?! I didn’t know that.
I work for Comcast and trust me it does not suck. Some of the systems that we bought suck but we are making them better. And as far as FIOS goes yeah they do have a good internet but just wait until the first or second bill… I have talked to a lot of people that went to FIOS and came right back after $500 or more bill for just phone and internet and they are not that much faster. I get a 20MB download and I see a lot of people getting the same when I install their internet. Most customers do not even pay for any where near that.
If Comcast would cap off what people are paying for then trust me it would not be a problem but they don’t because they are always trying to please everyone.
They have to. Digital downloads are the future.