Comcast Sued Over BitTorrent Traffic Interference
Written by Ernesto on November 14, 2007It was to be expected, yesterday, a Comcast subscriber from California filed a suit against Comcast in which he calls upon the ISP to stop interfering with his BitTorrent traffic.
We first reported that Comcast was actively disconnecting BitTorrent seeds back in August. Comcast of course denied our allegations, even though we had proof, and they continued to do so.
Jon Hart, a Comcast subscriber from California couldn’t take it anymore and decided to take legal action. He filed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday and demands that Comcast stops the BitTorrent traffic interference. In addition he wants Comcast to pay him, and all other Comcast customers in California, damages for not giving him the “crazy fast speeds” they advertised.
Threat Level asked Comcast for a response to this news, but the spokesman put them off with his default response: “Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any websites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services”. Semantically speaking they are totally right, they don’t block any applications or websites, they do however, actively disconnect peer-to-peer connections, making it impossible for many users to seed files on BitTorrent.
Hart is not the only one taking action against Comcast, the people behind SaveTheInternet have also formed a coalition and plan to demand $195,000 for all the customers who are affected.
Comcast is using an application from the broadband management company Sandvine to throttle BitTorrent traffic. The application is installed at the cable modem termination system and breaks every (seed) connection with new peers after a few seconds. This means that Comcast is not simply slowing down connections, they actually disconnect peer-to-peer transfers.
We wish Jon all the best, let’s hope justice will be served. In the meantime, here’s an article that explains how to bypass Comcast’s BitTorrent interference.
Previously: Anti-Piracy Outfit Threatens ShareConnector Admin at his Front Door
Next: Police Charge Man in Movie Camming Crackdown
72 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
fuck comcast
What the hell? I have comcast high speed internet 800 kb’s maximum and I can still download stuff from bit torrent with my maximum download speed. So why is everyone complaining? I don’t encrypt my BT connections.
Also It was like this before, and always was like this.
[quote comment="213580"]What the hell? I have comcast high speed internet 800 kb’s maximum and I can still download stuff from bit torrent with my maximum download speed. So why is everyone complaining? I don’t encrypt my BT connections.[/quote]
There are some regional differences, apart from that, seeding files is mostly affected, not downloading.
[quote]
There are some regional differences, apart from that, seeding files is mostly affected, not downloading.[/quote]
I can still upload at my maximum upload speed too.
This could certainly backfire on him if he is sharing copyrighted material.
Lets go after Rogers!!!! Hell I swear we were the guinea pigs for Sandvine… Anybody with me??
Wooo hooo! I like this! Someone with BALLS! These lying cretins need sueing bigtime. Instead of increasing their pipeline they chose to block a popular application. I have read recently (here or zero paid) that P2P accounts for like 60% (?) of internet traffic. They need to improve their network instead of advertising speeds they can’t deliver. Screwing customers is a step in the wrong direction. I have also heard that compared to other countries, like South Korea as an example the USA is maybe 20 years behind in high speed interent.
I can’t imagine WHY, with corporate Hollywood buying off our spineless, sold out US senators…making HUGE campaign contributions and constant lobbying to stop P2P. And all to protect their corporate cashflow. P2P should not be a criminal offence. Canadian Law agrees with me.
THIS SHOULD BE A CLASS ACTION SUIT AND ALL COMCAST USERS SHOULD JOIN IN. I WILL ;D
Mr. Rogers? hes already dead! lol j/k, seriously though, I really dont think this guy is dumb enough to leave copyrighted material on his comp, I mean, sue a major national company and then have incriminating evidence ON YOU? thats jsut stupid, hopefully this fuy knows what he’s doing, and if they do even change it, it affects all 50 states, not just Cali.
[quote comment="213578"]fuck comcast[/quote]
agreed.
That’s true Cracker Jack but it’s not just a simple as deleting files you share. I am pretty sure that shit is embedded in places most don’t know about that would serve as evidence.
If I was him, I would get rid of my hard drive completely and pray comcast does not have records of anything.
He may thing he’s some tough shit now but you jump in the fire with corporate big wigs you better know wtf you doing because it’s cutthroat.
If Jon Hart didn’t refuse the arbitration agreement concast had been sending out back in the summer then the case will probably be dismissed (implied consent to arbitration means he couldn’t, technically, bring suit).
http://comcast.net/arbitrationoptout
Damn i like this guy. Jon, i wish you best of luck. I certainly hope you win and hopefully comcunt will back down.
[quote comment="213598"]Wooo hooo! I like this! Someone with BALLS! These lying cretins need sueing bigtime. Instead of increasing their pipeline they chose to block a popular application. I have read recently (here or zero paid) that P2P accounts for like 60% (?) of internet traffic. They need to improve their network instead of advertising speeds they can’t deliver. Screwing customers is a step in the wrong direction. I have also heard that compared to other countries, like South Korea as an example the USA is maybe 20 years behind in high speed interent.
I can’t imagine WHY, with corporate Hollywood buying off our spineless, sold out US senators…making HUGE campaign contributions and constant lobbying to stop P2P. And all to protect their corporate cashflow. P2P should not be a criminal offence. Canadian Law agrees with me.[/quote]
Dude you read my mind =]
Two days ago BTJunkie changed IP address and it’s been inaccessible for comcast users. This shows that they have some other system that even involves web traffic, I’m sure if digg.com changed IPs comcast DNS servers would acknowledge the update! The new IP: http://85.17.217.65
[quote comment="213598"] I have also heard that compared to other countries, like South Korea as an example the USA is maybe 20 years behind in high speed interent.[/quote]
I don’t think high speed internet has been around for 20 years :p
[quote comment="213621"]“Stealing His Film”
but ConCast stopping bittorrent downloads is a good thing aqccording to TorrentSneak.com
[/quote]
Not everything on BitTorrent is “stolen”.
[quote comment="213640"]Two days ago BTJunkie changed IP address and it’s been inaccessible for comcast users. This shows that they have some other system that even involves web traffic, I’m sure if digg.com changed IPs comcast DNS servers would acknowledge the update! The new IP: http://85.17.217.65/quote
It’s working for me, and has been with no problems.
[quote]Not everything on BitTorrent is “stolen”.[/quote]
How can you steal something just by sharing it over the internet anyway?
Some of the sources to some releases were probably stolen (as in, someone steals a workprint from a studio or something), but I don’t think many are, but that doesn’t mean downloading it is stealing.
Go to BitTorrent.com one may legally download movies, music for a fee. Other legal sites exist as well. I personally have sent a freind of mine a copy of Linux over P2P, this is totally legal. So p2p is not always used for piracy. I also understand the US Government uses it to transfer files…its a great protocol!
rofl. stupid isp. and i bet the techs who made this hack to interfere with the torrent traffic thought they were so clever…
[quote]Wooo hooo! I like this! Someone with BALLS! These lying cretins need sueing bigtime. Instead of increasing their pipeline they chose to block a popular application. I have read recently (here or zero paid) that P2P accounts for like 60% (?) of internet traffic. They need to improve their network instead of advertising speeds they can’t deliver. Screwing customers is a step in the wrong direction. I have also heard that compared to other countries, like South Korea as an example the USA is maybe 20 years behind in high speed interent.
I can’t imagine WHY, with corporate Hollywood buying off our spineless, sold out US senators…making HUGE campaign contributions and constant lobbying to stop P2P. And all to protect their corporate cashflow. P2P should not be a criminal offence. Canadian Law agrees with me.[/quote]
/agree
heh im filing a lawsuit too, i cancelled comCRAP last week cause of the bittorrent bullshit. Hell yeah fuck a comcrap
I would no be surprised if comcrap got paid by big media to do something like this.
Good luck!
Hell yeah, its about time someone did this.
More power to ya Jon!
I heard rumeurs that they are working with the gouvernment and military and lobby organisations for a new kinds of tracking system for bittorrent and other protocols so they can protect hollywood silverspoon crybabies.
apparently it didnt work propperly, and messed up packets sent by the protocols.
now this have one major flaw:
if it messes up packets, disconnecting users. why would they keep doing it?
We all know how fast those rumeurs can spread.
I hope the subscribers get their refunds and that comcast burns in hell mowhahaha :)
Good luck! ;-)
YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO KEEPING DEMONOID’S TORRENTS ALIVE?
KEEP SEEDING
FOR UTORRENT USERS: PUT ON THE TORRENTS WHICH ARE RED COLORED AS MANY TRACKERS AS YOU CAN. ALL ACCOMPISHED FILES YOU GOT COULD BE UPPED ELSEWHERE AND THEY WOULD NEVER DIE. JUST KEEP SEEDING
WORKS WITH ME
we, russians, hate comcast together with u. we will send a diarrhea beam to him.
превед, медвед!
я тоже
[quote comment="213662"][quote comment="213621"]“Stealing His Film”
but ConCast stopping bittorrent downloads is a good thing aqccording to TorrentSneak.com
[/quote]
Not everything on BitTorrent is “stolen”.[/quote]
Exactly, BitTorrent is widely used for spreading copyrightfree files. One of the many examples is Linux. An ISP should just provide the internet connection they get paid for, they should NOT dictate what can or cannot be done with the internet connection. It’s like me selling a book but demanding that you don’t read it on sundays. That’s retarded.
~Fransw
~Fransw
We Serbs also are agree with our Russian brethren! We will send feces beam to their faces! Fuck ConCrap for not allowing us to leech our American friends!
Србија! Земља личера!
то се е видело всички славяни сме против
[quote comment="213590"][quote]
There are some regional differences, apart from that, seeding files is mostly affected, not downloading.[/quote]
I can still upload at my maximum upload speed too.[/quote]
sure you can. Your a leecher aint ya?
Offtopic:
does anyone know what happened with Bitlet.org? Because I need to share some files with friends, and service doesn’t work…
I actually know Jon, and he runs a BT site that posts live shows for the band The Radiators…who allow fans to tape their shows, and freely distribute them. He’s not sharing any copyrighted material to the best of my knowledge. So, actually, he is a very good plaintiff for this action…he has so-called “clean-hands”.
“Exactly, BitTorrent is widely used for spreading copyrightfree files. One of the many examples is Linux.”
Short version: ROTFLMAO.
Long version: Download the sources. Read them. You only need to understand English, no programming skills required. You will realize that Linux is not free of copyright. I would really appreciate if people without a clue, no matter what intentions they have, would shut up a little more often. By now the terms, “theft”, “copyright”, “p2p” and many others have lost any meaning. They have been degraded to buzzwords with little to semantics left.
Україна з Вами!!!
All Ukrainian leechers wish you good luck in this battle against comcunt!!!
Will this have any impact on Rogers customers in Canada, I wonder? Has anyone figured out a way around their P2P traffic shaping hardware, other than VPN? My upload speeds are still dead, even with transport encryption enabled.
haha, comcast is going to lose…
@39
Linux is free to distribute due to the licenses the software was written under. Quit being a picky little bitch about it.
43: I can stop being a bitch. Can you stop being a dimwit?
Why isn’t Rogers getting all this attention =( My upload barely goes over 10kbs, which destroys me on private trackers. Somebody sue those guys =/
[quote comment="214257"][quote comment="213590"][quote]
There are some regional differences, apart from that, seeding files is mostly affected, not downloading.[/quote]
I can still upload at my maximum upload speed too.[/quote]
sure you can. Your a leecher aint ya?[/quote]
nope seeding ratio at 0.5-1.00 too lazy to check.
[quote comment="214045"]We Serbs also are agree with our Russian brethren! We will send feces beam to their faces! Fuck ConCrap for not allowing us to leech our American friends!
Србија! Земља личера![/quote]
Would that Russian person be me? XD
So what? Nothing will change.
Comcast will put a $5 credit on a few people’s bills, and in 6 months they’ll just add another service option/level for $25 more a month.
“You want to do P2P? Pay us more money!”
Just my estimate.
Its all going to turn into this right here.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/keithdrone/netnuetrality5z6vt4n.jpg
[quote comment="213578"]fuck comcast[/quote]
I’m still not clear exactly what Comcast is being sued for. Customers pay them to access the internet. If Comcast chooses to limit the use of the internet by its paying customers, it seems they should have a right to do so. Companies change policies all the time; this isn’t actionable and will be laughed out of court.
We wish you luck in your battle in a room filled with spineless creeps
I saw this coming. However, I still don’t understand why they’re being sued over this when they’ve been capping Usenet traffic since I signed-up. Not to mention that when I found out there was a cap, they suggested a pay for service provider.
i run a website that has complete album mp3s shared over bit torrent.. but the catch is that i get permission (along with pressing info and images) from the artists, and its a big success. theres tons of out of print 7 inches and demos that you would never know about if you were from out of town and the internet didn’t exist.
that being said, it seems like linux distros is the #1 defense of bit torrent traffic.. i think there needs to be a bit more variety in the arguments to make it a usually-”legal” protocol instead of “well between downloading major label music i also seeded a 100M open source file”.
Warning this site is full of comcast dogs & employee… give them hell too.
[quote comment="214622"]So what? Nothing will change.
Comcast will put a $5 credit on a few people’s bills, and in 6 months they’ll just add another service option/level for $25 more a month.
“You want to do P2P? Pay us more money!”
Just my estimate.
Its all going to turn into this right here.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/keithdrone/netnuetrality5z6vt4n.jpg/quote
That link you gave is exactly what’s going to happen…Check http://www.savetheinternet.com an d read what theyve been sayin for the past couple of years….Its just starting to happen because ppl come here to bitch rather than going to congress or members of parliament(depending where you live)
Just noticed something else new…Why do my comments here have to be moderated all of a sudden?? They never were before..Things that make you go hmmmmmmm
“Hart is not the only one taking action against Comcast, the people behind SaveTheInternet have also formed a coalition and plan to demand $195,000 for all the customers who are affected.”
I lol’ed at this. Why would Comcast PAY the customers who are affected?
GTFO scrubs.
Not that I support this type of bullshit from any ISP, but as long as the contract doesn’t state exactly what he gets as service, Comcast has every right to do as they please with their service that they provide. I don’t like it, but it’s their service they’re selling.
Ok legitimate BitTorrent downloads this guy could have been using. Downloading the latest version of OpenOffice, many Linux distros, some freeware/opensource games, research data for a university project (yep they share the data via BT sometimes). Some commercially produced BT seeds.
We don’t necessarily know Jon, so we can’t assume he’s using BT for the purpose of downloading the newest movies or music illegally.
[quote comment="cheesesoda"]…as long as the contract doesn’t state exactly what he gets as service, Comcast has every right to do as they please with their service that they provide.[/quote]
I disagree. Suppose they disabled HTTP instead? Or maybe just FTP? These are ALL designed to transfer files. Customers have certain expectations when they pay for service, and those expectations clearly aren’t being met.
They promised that “Comcast does not, has not, and will not block any…online applications”, in direct response to questions about Bittorrent. It sounds like they are committing fraud. There are 1) material false statements that they offer ‘unfettered access to all the internet has to offer’, 2) customers who relied on these statements when buying service, and 3) actual damages. That would certainly expose them to civil liability.
As for the “$195,000 for all the customers who are affected”, Free Press and Public Knowledge are asking the FCC to fine Comcast $195,000 for _each_ harmed subscriber. You can read the reasoning on pages 37-38 of the complaint:
http://www.freepress.net/docs/fp_pk_comcast_complaint.pdf
I assume the FCC would keep these forfeitures… maybe I’m wrong? Their reasoning for the huge fine included the “huge negative externalities on application-providers, content-providers, and all consumers”, including “undermining the future of Internet innovation”. This clearly goes beyond Comcast customers, and it shouldn’t be confused with the class-action lawsuit - they are not the same thing.
Interesting developments to say the least. You can bet other ISPs are watching. :)
Sorry, I meant to quote you cheesesoda. :P
Comcast is up to even more shit. http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=58005
America is going to hell in a hand basket. Corporate Baldheads and their greedy fuckin cronies are runing this country faster then you can say Sandvine.
Just watching a movie like sicko(which is just a tiny fraction of the greedy, heartless, and dictatorship’esk bullshit going on this country) makes you realize this country is soon to be run by corporations, if it isnt already.
Sadly, this guy doesnt stand a chance. You cant even depend on justice being served in this country anymore. You know the judges will be paid off in some slimy way, and freedom as you know it.. will soon be dead. Were fucked guys.. seriously fucked.. Im movin to canada. Fuck all this shit. America has turned into “me, me, me and my shit” You see it on the highways, You see it when You see everywhere around here. Its everywhere. It’s fuckin sad! Nobody cares about anybody but themseleves in this day and age. And how can you blame them when your government keeps people demoralized and scarred out of their minds.
We should be called Scamerica! Cause thats what its turned into! everyone scamming everyone else, and then lying about it! Just like Comcast!
Sandvine was killing me, I noticed a huge drop in speed. My friend told me he had the same problem and went with a VPN provider. There are quite a few out there, just google it. I currently use http://www.strongvpn.com . Their speeds are excellent and it’s a regular hosting company ( reliablehosting.com ) so their staff is always there and know what they are doing.
It’s useful for other reasons too so I don’t mind the extra $15 a month on my budget.
Check this out!
http://mashable.com/2008/01/08/fcc-may-fine-comcast-up-to-177-trillion/
i agree
On Comcast’s terms of use pages, it says:
[quote]
Comcast reserves the right to refuse to transmit or post, and to remove or block, any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be in violation of the “Content and information restrictions” section above in this Policy, harmful to its network or customers using the Service, negatively affecting its network or customers using the Service, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful. Neither Comcast nor any of its affiliates, suppliers, or agents have any obligation to monitor transmissions or postings (including, but not limited to, e-mail, file transfer, newsgroup, and instant message transmissions as well as materials available on the Personal Web Pages and Online Storage features) made on the Service. However, Comcast and its affiliates, suppliers, and agents have the right to monitor these transmissions and postings from time to time for violations of this Policy and to disclose, block, or remove them in accordance with this Policy and the Subscriber Agreement.
[/quote]
Referring to its prohibition to
[quote]upload, post, publish, transmit, reproduce, create derivative works of, or distribute in any way information, software or other material obtained through the Service or otherwise that is protected by copyright or other proprietary right, without obtaining permission of the owner;[/quote]
So as much as i’d like to see them sued, it looks tricky.
Also
[quote]Comcast reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts where bandwidth consumption is not characteristic of a typical residential user of the Service as determined by the company in its sole discretion. Common activities that may cause excessive bandwidth consumption in violation of this Policy include, but are not limited to, numerous or continuous bulk transfers of files and other high capacity traffic using (i) file transfer protocol (”FTP”), (ii) peer-to-peer applications, and (iii) newsgroups, whether provided by Comcast or a third party. You must also ensure that your use of the Service does not restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or degrade any other person’s use of the Service, nor represent (as determined by Comcast in its sole discretion) an overly large burden on the network. In addition, you must ensure that your use of the Service does not limit or interfere with Comcast’s ability to deliver and monitor the Service or any part of its network.[/quote]
They are being sued for impersonating users computers and sending false “I’m finished” or “complete” packets to peers, causing the connections to reset, which is seriously illegal in most states. They aren’t being sued for throttling or anything like that. It’s about impersonation for Comcast’s benefit and gain; i.e. not having to improve their network for this new popular form of legal file transfer.
Thats why I call them Vomitcast!
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