Online Exclusive
Comcast Sued Over BitTorrent Blocking
A California man filed a lawsuit Nov. 13 against Internet service provider Comcast, alleging that the company’s use of technology to limit peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent violates federal computer fraud laws, their user contracts and anti-fraudulent advertising statutes.
The suit, filed in California Superior Court in Alameda County, also claims the BitTorrent blocking is an unfair business practice.Plaintiff Jon Hart states that Comcast's promises of providing Internet connections that let users “Download at Crazy Fast Speeds” are false and misleading because Comcast limits downloads by transmitting “unauthorized hidden messages to the computers of customers” who use peer-to-peer file sharing software.
Hart claims that Comcast intentionally and severely impedes the use of “certain Internet applications” by the customers by “slowing such applications to a mere crawl or stopping them altogether.” He wants the court to force Comcast to stop interfering with the traffic.
The suit seeks class action certification on behalf of California Comcast subscribers.
Comcast posted a statement on its Web site saying it does “not block access to any Web site or applications, including BitTorrent.” Comcast adds: "We never prevent peer-to-peer activity or block access to any peer-to-peer applications, but rather manage the network in such a way that this activity does not degrade the broadband experience for other users."
An investigation by the Associated Press concluded, “Comcast actively interferes with attempts some high-speed Internet subscribers (make) to share files online.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation conducted similar test on Comcast's network and came to the same conclusion.
