Vuze Investigates Network-Management Practices

Peer-to-Peer Application Company Finds ISP-Generated Disruptions to Traffic Flow

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/21/2008 5:36:00 PM

Peer-to-peer application company Vuze said it peered into the network-management practices of a host of Internet-service providers and concluded that there may be a lot of ISP-generated disruptions to traffic flow.

Vuze was one of the companies that complained to the Federal Communications Commission about Comcast's network-management practices.

Vuze sent out a downloadable plug-in to Web surfers and collected data on how many transmissions of all types were being interrupted by the service provider and who was doing it. The list was long. It also pointed out that Comcast, which was high on the list, pledged to make its network-management practices "protocol-agnostic," but added that others on the list have not.

While Vuze said it cannot "conclude definitively" that any network is doing anything wrong, it said that there is sufficient evidence to raise questions about whether anyone is "artificially interrupting network connections," then answered that question -- at least Vuze's view -- by concluding that "there are sufficient data to suggest that network-management practices that 'throttle’ Internet traffic are widespread."

"Consumers and innovators cannot be expected to police for abuse, nor should they have to accept interference until their network provider is exposed," said Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press, which also complained about Comcast. "Until the FCC makes it clear that it will not tolerate Internet blocking, phone and cable companies will continue to engage in this harmful practice."

Vuze has sent letters to four companies--Comcast, AT&T, Cablevision and Cogeco, who were in the top 20 of interruptions asking them if they were using "false" reset messages to manage their traffic.