Tech blogs have been buzzing this week with speculation that Comcast, the No. 1 U.S cable operator, is blocking BitTorrent traffic moving over its broadband network.
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing technology used to share files such as music and movies. Some sites use the technology to distribute pirated movies, while big movie studios are also relying on it to sell films.
Several bloggers, led by TorrentFreak, have claimed that over the past weeks Comcast users have started to see their BitTorrent transfers cut off, download speeds slowed down and an inability to see their downloads.
A Comcast spokesman denied that the company was blocking BitTorrent or any other application. “We don’t block access or throttle speed or traffic to BitTorrent. We’re not traffic cops.”
That denial has been rebuffed by the bloggers who seem convinced that Comcast is abusing its power.
BitTorrent declined comment.
(Additional reporting by Jim Finkle)
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3 comments so far
Perhaps someone should phrase the question differently. If you asked them “do you block systems that are performing piracy of content” then perhaps they’d answer “yes” or “maybe”.
If you asked the police at the border “do you block cars from crossing the border” they’d presumably say “no”. If you asked them “do you block cars carrying illegal narcotics from crossing the border” they’d presumably say “yes”.
- Posted by Nic FultonI lost communication with p2p services when I switched to comcast last week. My first thought was, “they’e blocking me.” After navigating the security and portal settings, the problem continued.
- Posted by p.norman“If you asked the police at the border do you block cars from crossing the border theyd presumably say no. If you asked them do you block cars carrying illegal narcotics from crossing the border theyd presumably say yes.”
That would work except they are blocking seeders across the board. Copyrighted material, Linux ISOs, World of Warcraft patches, etc.
- Posted by Darren