Comcast Continues To Deny Throttling BT
We recently reported that Comcast has been accused of throttling BitTorrent traffic. Initially Comcast denied that it was doing anything to throttle BitTorrent traffic, but later revised its stance to indicate that their TOS gives them the right and obligation to make sure that the Comcast network isn't being used to traffic in illicit copyrighted media.
Now an alleged internal e-mail has surfaced, telling customer service reps how to respond to customer concerns about BitTorrent trouble:
"If a customer asks:
I read that Comcast is limiting customer access to BitTorrent. Is this true?
Respond:
No. We do not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent. We also respect our customers' privacy and don't monitor specific customer activities on the Internet or track individual online behavior, such as which websites they visit. Therefore, we do not know whether any individual user is visiting BitTorrent or any other site.”
While we're not trying to say that Comcast is lying to their customer service reps or directing them to lie to customers, but our understanding of child pornography laws is that ISPs are required to keep certain records of which customers visit sites featuring child pornography for a specified period of time. Sounds like the very definition of monitoring specific activities, and if they're willing to bend the truth for one statement...
Now an alleged internal e-mail has surfaced, telling customer service reps how to respond to customer concerns about BitTorrent trouble:
"If a customer asks:
I read that Comcast is limiting customer access to BitTorrent. Is this true?
Respond:
No. We do not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent. We also respect our customers' privacy and don't monitor specific customer activities on the Internet or track individual online behavior, such as which websites they visit. Therefore, we do not know whether any individual user is visiting BitTorrent or any other site.”
While we're not trying to say that Comcast is lying to their customer service reps or directing them to lie to customers, but our understanding of child pornography laws is that ISPs are required to keep certain records of which customers visit sites featuring child pornography for a specified period of time. Sounds like the very definition of monitoring specific activities, and if they're willing to bend the truth for one statement...
