Comcast admits online "delaying"

NEW YORK — Comcast on Tuesday acknowledged "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic, but said any roadblocks it puts up are temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users.

The statement was a response to an Associated Press report last week that detailed how the nation's largest cable company was interfering with file sharing by some of its Internet subscribers. The AP also found that Comcast's computers masqueraded as those of its users to interrupt file-sharing connections.

Internet-watchdog groups denounced Comcast's actions, calling it an example of the kind of abuse that could be curbed with so-called "Net neutrality" legislation. It would require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally — as has largely been the case historically.

Comcast has repeatedly denied blocking any Internet application, including "peer-to-peer" file-sharing programs like BitTorrent, which the AP used in its nationwide tests.

On Tuesday, Mitch Bowling, senior vice president of Comcast Online Services, added a nuance to that statement, saying that while Comcast may block initial connection attempts between two computers, it eventually lets the traffic through if the computers keep trying.

"During periods of heavy peer-to-peer congestion, which can degrade the experience for all customers, we use several network-management technologies that, when necessary, enable us to delay — not block — some peer-to-peer traffic. However, the peer-to-peer transaction will eventually be completed as requested," Bowling said.

The explanation is not inconsistent with the AP's tests. In one case, a BitTorrent file transfer was squelched, apparently by messages generated by Comcast, only to start 10 minutes later. Other tests were called off after about 5 minutes, while the transfers were still stifled.

Comcast's statement did not mollify Markham Erickson, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Open Internet Coalition, a group that counts Google and eBay among its supporters.

"What applications work, what don't, and at what speeds? Only Comcast really knows," he said. "Comcast is making arbitrary bandwidth allocation decisions slowing use of basic [programs] without being clear to consumers what they really get when they buy a broadband connection."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation confirmed the AP's findings with its own tests — including spotting forged messages sent by Comcast's computers to shut down connections.