Comcast Support Continues to Lie about BitTorrent Interference
By now probably every Comcast customer knows that Comcast is interfering with BitTorrent traffic. The only ones that keep denying are the Comcast PR department and the support representatives, this leads to awkward situations to say the least.
A lot has happened since we first reported back in August that Comcast was actively interfering with BitTorrent seeding. Comcast of course denied our allegations, even though we had proof.
However, it didn’t stop there, a few weeks ago the Comcast story got renewed attention when the Associated Press published a test that again confirmed our initial reports. That really got the ball rolling – a memo leaked in which Comcast support was instructed to lie about the throttling issues ( the memo leaker is still being hunted down). Additionally Comcast told their employees that they can be fired if they don’t keep their mouth shut and to top it off Congressman Rick Boucher has even told Comcast to stop interfering with BitTorrent.
By now you would expect that Comcast would admit that they are messing with the BitTorrent connections of their customers, but they aren’t. Here’s a chatlog we received from Michael, a Comcast user who tried to get some more information on Comcast’s alleged BitTorrent interference. Seems like the Comcast support team is still in the denial phase.
user michael_ has entered room
Michael>
Does Comcast interfere with legal Bittorrent traffic?
analyst Stephanie has entered roomStephanie>
Hello michael_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Stephanie. Please give me one moment to review your information.michael_>
Hi Stephanie, how are you?Stephanie>
Thank you for contacting Comcast. I can answer your question today.michael_>
I would greatly appreciate that.Stephanie>
Comcast respects our customers’ privacy and we don’t monitor specific customer activities on the Internet or track individual online behavior, such as which websites you visit. Therefore, we do not know whether any individual user is visiting BitTorrent or any other site.Stephanie>
Comcast does not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent.michael_>
I’m not asking if applications are blocked. I’m asking if applications are interfered with in any way.Stephanie>
We don’t monitor specific customer activities on the internet.
michael_>
But you must know the policies of your own company? Does Comcast actively engage in any interference of any protocols or applications?Stephanie>
As far as I know, no.michael_>
Who could give me a more definitive answer on the subject?michael_>
I contacted technical support because I had assumed that you would know the technical details of Comcast’s network, such as equipment or software used to interfere with network traffic or applications used on your network.Stephanie>
We rarely disclose our processes for operating our network for compeitive reasons and to protect against network abuse.
michael_>
You had told me you do not know definitively if any interference is occurring. Could you put me through to someone who would know that answer?Stephanie>
As I have said, we rarely disclose processes for operating our network but we also do not monitor specific customer activity. As well, we are not blocking access to any applications such as BitTorrent.michael_>
Maybe I’m not explaining myself clear enough. I use bittorrent to distribute custom linux distributions to my friends and colleagues. However, I find that I cannot seed these files. Is there any interference being caused by Comcast that could be causing this issue?Stephanie>
We would not be blocking peer to peer access.michael_>
It’s a “yes” or “no” question.michael_>
Could my inability to seed be interference caused by Comcast?Stephanie>
As I have said, we are not blocking peer to peer access.
michael_>
You are not answering my question though.michael_>
Comcast is not blocking peer to peer connections, but is it interfering with the ability to seed torrents?Stephanie>
The answer is no.Stephanie>
I have confirmed this with a support agent, as well.Stephanie>
Did you have any other questions for me today?
michael_>
Nomichael_>
Have a good dayStephanie>
Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Support, have a great day!Stephanie>
Analyst has closed chat and left the room
The good news is that there are several ways to fight back and get BitTorrent up and running again. In this article summed up some of the workarounds that reportedly solve the throttling issues.
