Video distributor takes on ISPs over peer-to-peer throttling

An online distributor of commercial video content has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission about broadband providers throttling peer-to-peer traffic over the Internet.

The distributor, Vuze, uses the peer-to-peer protocol BitTorrent to legitimately distribute video content for movie studios, TV networks, and computer games makers.

The New York Times and the Associated Press broke the news last month that Comcast was blocking traffic, allegedly discriminating against peer-to-peer file sharing in an effort to discourage copyright infringements. The problem is that services like Vuze use peer-to-peer tools to legitimately distribute content on behalf of creators like the BBC, PBS and Showtime.

As Vuze’s CEO Gilles BianRosa told PCWorld, throttling diminishes consumer demand for legitimate multimedia. “We think that ISPs are spitting into the wind with that kind of approach. This kind of blocking has to stop,” he said.

This could shape up into quite a battle. For its part, Comcast denies the practice but an AT&T spokesman insists that “Broadband providers must have the ability to manage traffic to provide all consumers with high-quality service. Additional rules or legislation are totally unnecessary.”

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