Protecting the integrity of the network PROTECTS free speech.

But we know this isn’t even close to being the truth.

FP’s motives for misleading the public with such ridiculous charges can’t be good.

I don’t think that they’re really that paranoid; I think that they’re lobbyists out to make a buck by spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), no matter how far-fetched a conspiracy theory they’re trying to hatch.

Oh, and by the way: I just looked up Free Press on a site that lists nonprofits, and they are registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. That means that they shouldn’t even be lobbying. It might be a good idea to report this to the IRS.

We don’t object to metering access to freeways because we know that the net result of those lights on the on-ramp is to speed up the traffic flow for all of us. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what Comcast and Cox are doing.

We also know that your lobbying group, as well as the EFF, have conflicts of interest. The chairman of EFF is a board member and major stockholder of BitTorrent, Inc., and has caused that organization to circulate the misleading white papers you’ve cited above because it benefits his personal pocketbook. Your own organization makes money by stirring up false fears and then asking for contributions to fight the bogeymen you’ve dreamed up.

What you’re doing is beyond wrongheaded; it’s harmful to consumers and destructive to the Internet.

Lesson 1: EFF: Packet Forgery By ISPs

Lesson 2: EFF: Comcast is Forging Packets

Lesson 3: AP: Comcast Blocks Some Internet Traffic

Lesson 4: Free Press et al Petition for Declaratory Ruling

Lesson 5: Comcast Blocakge of BitTorrent 101

Lesson 6: Max Planck Institute Finds Traffic Blocking

Comcast is using a packet forgery system that cause users’ connections to drop. This is reportedly the same technique used by Internet censorship systems in China. The net effect: Comcast blocks users efforts to use the Internet.

This is no longer in dispute in the real world. It was the clear consensus at both FCC hearings. The question now is the appropriate punishment.

Comcast customers don’t have this experience, and no responsible source has claimed it. Even Robb Topolski admits that he can download with BitTorrent from his Comcast connection just fine; he claims to have a problem seeding, and even that is in dispute. What Comcast does is limit BitTorrent seeding in order to make BitTorrent downloads run faster. There’s nothing nefarious about that at all.

And BTW, BitTorrent doesn’t deal with “Web content;” it’s a file transfer application that moves files directly from user computers to other user computers. Take networking 101 before spouting such nonsense.

The regulatory hammer is still looking for a nail.

That Comcast secretly put in place a system that makes it virtually impossible for most of its users to use BitTorrent and other file-sharing applications has been widely documented by independent and authoritative sources. This is no longer under dispute (except, perhaps, in the wild imaginings of some of our favorite trolls here).

That this filtering and blocking is a problem spreading among giant network operators was confirmed today in an exhaustive study that shows Cox Communications blocking in the same manner as Comcast. (Stay tuned for more twisted logic to explain this one away)

It’s now up to the FCC to rule against such unreasonable and dishonest network management — and to Congress to safeguard an open Internet with enforceable Net Neutrality protections.

They don’t mess with the seeding that happens during the download. So the point is that Tim Karr (and Free Press generally) have misrepresented what’s happening on the Comcast network, and have also misrepresented what I’ve said by way of criticism of the their overbroad claims.

Tim Karr has given you the proof that what I say is true - and that what he says is not true - on this very comment thread. Free Press claims you can’t use BitTorrent on Comcast, full stop: “Comcast blocks access to peer-to-peer networks.”

I’ve just downloaded Fedora 9 over Comcast using BitTorrent, and seeded after the download was done. According to Tim Karr this is impossible, but I’ve done it. The facts on not on Karr’s side.

And also according to Tim Karr, an SMS Shortcode is a “Text Message” that has something to do with the Internet. But it’s not.

And according to Tim Karr, it’s OK for some web site owners to censor the content they deliver but not for others.

Free Press employs some odd people, and it’s clear that whatever merit their concerns about the Internet’s future may have, by entrusting them to people like Mr. Karr they ensure that nobody will take them to heart.