Public Knowledge Says New Study Shows FCC Needs To Act on Comcast Blocking
Public Knowledge Says New Study Shows FCC Needs To Act on Comcast Blocking
Public Knowledge Says New Study Shows FCC Needs To Act on Comcast Blocking

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    The Max Planck Institute has released a new survey of worldwide BitTorrent traffic finding that Comcast and Cox are the chief offenders for throttling traffic, and that they block at all hours of the day and night.

    The study is here:
    http://broadband.mpi-sws.mpg.de/transparency/results/

    The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

    “This study is further proof that the largest cable companies are hiding behind 'network management' excuses when caught throttling the legitimate traffic of their customers. This study clearly shows there is no blocking at peak usage times, or on certain busy days. The study found the 'percentage of blocked connections remains high at all times of the day. Our data suggests that the BitTorrent blocking is independent of the time of the day.'

    “These results lead us to three conclusions. First, the largest cable companies were doing more blocking than they have admitted to Congress or to the FCC. Second, other cable companies, and all telephone companies, can manage their networks without the need for blocking the traffic of customers. Finally, the fact that the blocking goes on all the time should tell the Commission that it needs to act soon to prevent the practice.”

    Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.