Comcast, Pando Call for Pact On P2P Rights

[Jitway]

Comcast and Pando Networks, a maker of peer-to-peer software, have kicked off a drive to create a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" to help settle the conflicts between broadband providers and some P2P users.

 

The two companies will collaborate with ISPs (Internet service providers), P2P companies, content providers and others to seek consensus on the roles of consumers and service providers, they said on Tuesday.

 

The move comes a few weeks after cable operator Comcast said it would work with P2P software company BitTorrent on network management. Comcast had come under fire for throttling back some BitTorrent traffic being exchanged by its customers. As part of the March 27 deal, the companies said they would get the broader Internet community involved.

 

P2P software lets individual users exchange files over the Internet without relying on a central server. Exchanging large files such as music and video can consume a large amount of network capacity. Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., acknowledged managing its network load by targeting particular protocols such as the ones used by BitTorrent. The service provider has since said it will stop doing so.

 

The controversy has become a flashpoint in the argument over what the government should do to enforce network neutrality. On Tuesday, the FCC invited Comcast and Pando to participate in a public hearing the agency will hold at Stanford University on Thursday.

 

The "Bill of Rights" Comcast and Pando are calling for would define what choices and controls P2P users should have and what practices ISPs should use to manage P2P applications running on their networks, the companies said.

 

Comcast and Pando will also test technology from Pando, called Pando Network Aware, on Comcast's network. Pando Network Aware can capture and analyze the data flow associated with downloading files with Pando's P2P software, they said. The test will measure the impact on bandwidth consumption on the network, as well as speed and other factors. Pando will conduct similar tests on DSL (digital subscriber line), fiber and wireless networks. The company says it can reduce network congestion and speed up content delivery by routing P2P traffic more effectively. Information from the tests will help Comcast move to a protocol-agnostic network management scheme, they said.

 

Also Thursday, the Distributed Computing Industry Association called on other concerned parties to get involved in crafting the P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. The group includes Pando, BitTorrent, Cisco Systems, AT&T, and other vendors, service providers and content providers.

 

 

 

 

After reading this I really don't know what to make of it. I have used Pando in the past and it is not a bad P2P software, not great but not bad either. But working with a ISP is another thing. Hopefully they will not get together and create more rules and a software that truely inhibits the user.

 

Source HERE

[Jitway]

An update and more on same story sort of.

 

Comcast wants 'bill of rights' for file-sharers and ISPs

 

Comcast Corp., under federal investigation for interfering with the traffic of its Internet subscribers, said Tuesday it wants to develop a "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" for file sharing.

 

The announcement expands on Comcast's new policy toward file-sharing: It said last month that rather than singling out such traffic and blocking some of it, the company will move toward a system that treats all types the same.

 

File sharing is mainly used to illegally swap copyright works like movies, but it's also emerging as a cheap way to distribute legal video. One of the companies in this business, Pando Networks Inc., is joining Comcast and supporting the "Bill of Rights."

 

The document would codify "best practices" for Internet providers to deal with file-sharing traffic, which can place substantial loads on the networks of cable companies. It would also clarify what controls consumers should have over peer-to-peer (or P2P) file-sharing applications on their computers. Some of these applications are often designed to run in the background, and give the user little insight into what they're doing or how much resources they're using.

 

"By having this framework in place, we will help P2P companies, ISPs and content owners find common ground to support consumers who want to use P2P applications to deliver legal content," said Tony Werner, Comcast's chief technology officer.

 

Comcast has already said that it is working with another maker of file-sharing software, BitTorrent Inc., to figure out how ISPs and P2P companies can coexist peacefully.

 

Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said Tuesday's announcement is "another example of how we can work with the industry to solve these issues rather than getting the government involved." Regulation won't be able to keep up with the pace of change in the technology, he said.

 

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating complaints from consumer groups about Comcast's treatment of file-sharing traffic, and the commission chairman has said he's "pleased" that the company is moving to end its practice of stifling file-sharing.

 

Also Tuesday, Comcast said it would conduct tests with Pando's software on its network to figure out how to best deal with P2P traffic. Verizon Communications Inc. recently said that by sharing information with Pando, the companies simultaneously sped up file-sharing downloads for Verizon subscribers and reduced the strain on its network. However, file-sharing traffic places different burdens on Comcast and other cable ISPs, where neighbors share data capacity on the local cable lines.

 

Pando's software differs from the freewheeling, anonymous file-sharing networks that pirates use. It focuses on enabling transfers of large e-mail attachments, like home videos, between friends and family, and on delivering large video files from major media companies like TV networks.

 

Source HERE

[Lucandrake]

If they flock up, I swear, we must start an internet revolution!

 

On the other hand, if they shoot themselves and not the consumer (unlikely one can dream), then by all means, let them go with it.

[Ryuken]

Can anyone summarize the first 2 post please, I hate reading a wall of texts that are white >.<

[Robert]

A "bill of rights" by a private company can be altered or removed and there's nothing you can do about it.