More Widespread Blocking by ISPs
April 22nd, 2008 by mtadyAnd they’re coming out of the woodwork. Another peer-to-peer software application is warning that many major phone and cable companies — not just Comcast — may be targeting and blocking legal Web traffic.
Vuze, maker of a popular P2P video distribution application, released a preliminary report that sheds light on ISPs’ prevalent practice of throttling communication between users.
Last fall, the Associated Press exposed Comcast for cutting off access to legal file-sharing programs. In response to petitions filed by Free Press and Vuze, the Federal Communications Commission has launched an ongoing investigation, which has included public hearings at Harvard and Stanford universities.
Vuze also launched its own investigation, creating a software plug-in to track network interruptions from reset messages. The rate of interruptions was so alarming, Vuze said it suggested that “network management practices that ‘throttle’ internet traffic are widespread.”
The company is calling on the public to install the Vuze Plug-In to help expose ISPs’ covert scheme to restrict the free flow of Internet traffic.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
[…] Save the Internet says there are more reports of companies blocking LEGAL Internet content. […]
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
They’re not blocking content or speech. They are blocking P2P, which is an exploitative practice. Vuze is attempting to shift its bandwidth costs to the ISPs, and the ISPs are saying “no.” Claims that an ISP is blocking speech should not be made when the ISP is merely blocking the unauthorized use of its network or the taking of its resources without permission or compensation.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
By doing this the ISPs are causing blocks on the things that people use more than computer to access the internet so they are technically blocking the use of the internet content for these people
April 29th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Come again? The ISPs are “causing blocks on the things that people use more than computer to access the internet”? This does not make sense.
What ISPs are doing is preventing bandwidth hogs from clogging the pipes and keeping the cost of access reasonable and affordable by stopping abuse. It is standard practice for all ISPs to mitigate P2P traffic, just as they block spam, worms, and viruses. And this preserves free speech. Remember, there is no content or service which cannot be obtained or published without the use of abusive P2P.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I have to agree with Brett here. I do not however like installing a plug in to HELP them determine what THEY feel is a hog. Even though it is their service that they provide, I dont see that as fair to a consumer who may find something important to them that their company deems a hog or harmful just because it may effect them adversly. What we want to look at should be our own choice…$$$ is evil this may be a fight that we cant win but will not go quietly.