The clash between Comcast and BitTorrent users may have revived the Net neutrality debate and put the issue back in the hands of Congress, but now Comcast and BitTorrent are looking to work together. The Comcast controversy began last year with accusations that Comcast was blocking some traffic destined for peer-to-peer BitTorrent users. Comcast said it only delayed traffic in some instances. Now, the companies are talking about how to improve the delivery of BitTorrent traffic over Comcast's network, perhaps by allowing Comcast to slow access for the highest-volume users. Also, Comcast is looking to revise how it manages its network during peak traffic times.
While Net neutrality legislation appears likely and the controversy has moved the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Comcast and review its own Net neutrality policy, Comcast and BitTorrent might be onto what is the best possible solution--working together to adapt networks, usage expectations and management practices to explosive new traffic trends.
For more:
- read this story [1] at The Wall Street Journal
Related article:
- BitTorrent [2] last month seemed to be following its own path toward solutions
Links:
[1] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120658178504567453.html?mod=mm_media_marketing_hs_left
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/bittorrent-eyes-solution-to-p2p-delays/2008-02-20