November 6th, 2007

A rational debate on Comcast traffic management

Posted by George Ou @ 10:08 am

Categories: Infrastructure, Net Neutrality, Networking, News

Tags: Cable Broadband, BitTorrent, Network, Comcast Corp., Cable, Network Technology, Networking, Telecommunications, Personal Technology, George Ou

Updated 8:00 PM
The discussion on Comcast actively resetting BitTorrent connections to manage its network for its cable broadband service has gotten hot in recent weeks and there hasn’t been a whole lot of accurate reporting on the subject because of the complexity of the issue. The subject of Net Neutrality has once again surfaced with Comcast’s actions being the latest rallying cry of Internet “discrimination”. This isn’t the first time an ISP was used as an example of Internet discrimination, extremists concocted a story that Cox was blocking Craigslist when the problem was arguably Craigslist own making all along.

Much like the debate on Net Neutrality, I sat on the sidelines for a while to get a handle on the situation. I had mixed feelings on the issue and I didn’t jump in until I saw the debate get out of hand with outright nonsense. Since June of 2006 I’ve written a series of articles on the issue of Net Neutrality culminating in “A rational debate on Net Neutrality” which I can proudly say got a lot of linking from reasonable proponents on both sides of the issue. Now that extremist groups like SaveTheInternet.com is lobbying the FCC to stop Comcast’s network management practices without fully understanding what they are asking for, I’m going to try and start a rational debate on the issue.

I will start by summarizing the Comcast situation and how it all started. Comcast was found to be actively resetting TCP connections on BitTorrent peer-to-peer file trading connections by forging TCP reset packets that appear to be coming from the BitTorrent peers. When most of us hear the term “forged TCP reset packets”, it sounds like Comcast has crossed the line of reasonable network management Comcast is guilty of application discrimination. So when word of this got out, all hell broke loose and the knifes were out for Comcast’s blood.

The Free Press has gone as far as demanding an FCC enjoinment before the merits are even decided and they are demanding fines of $195,000 per infraction which would amount to $2.3 TRILLION dollars if we only counted Comcast customers.

The FCC should act immediately to enjoin Comcast’s secret discrimination and, even before deciding the merits, issue a temporary injunction requiring Comcast to stop degrading any applications. Upon deciding the merits, the Commission should issue a permanent injunction ending Comcast’s discrimination. The Commission should also impose the maximum forfeitures to deter Comcast and other network providers and to ensure society is fully compensated for the harms imposed by Internet discrimination.

I have to admit that when I first heard about the issue, I too thought Comcast crossed the line of reasonable network management in to abusive behavior but after speaking to Richard Bennett who had a hand in creating some of the technology used to build the Internet, I’m not so certain that my initial assessment was correct.

<Next page - Web hogs plus shared cable equals network meltdown>

Pages: 1 2 3