German study finds Comcast blocking BitTorrent traffic all day long, every day

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No day is complete without some sort of Comcast-bashing; I oblige.

A German study has found that BitTorrent blocking really only occurs in two countries, here in the U.S. and in Singapore. Moreover, only cable ISPs bother to block BitTorrent traffic. The ISPs? Why, none other than Comcast and Cox, the two darlings of American Internet access.

The study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute, examined worldwide BitTorrent behavior and further affirmed what we already know, especially here in the U.S.: cable ISPs limit or disable uploading (as opposed to downloading… good luck with that ratio, kids) via BitTorrent by using RST packets.

What’s most interesting, perhaps, is that the study’s results conflicts with Comcast’s supposed justification for traffic blocking. The ISP said it only interrupts BitTorrent traffic during peak hours, when network strain is at its highest. Well then, Comcast, care to explain this graph, which shows that you block traffic single hour of the day?

And what about this one that shows BitTorrent blocking every day of the week, and not just those busy pesky weekdays?

As the world turns, I suppose.

Also, I cannot endorse Usenet any more enthusiastically given the above.