Comcast and BitTorrent form collaboration

The US cable operator Comcast and BitTorrent have announced that they will “undertake a collaborative effort with one another and with the broader Internet and ISP community to more effectively address issues associated with rich media content and network capacity management.” 

While BitTorrent and Comcast are talking directly, they are also in discussions with other parties to help facilitate a broader dialogue and cooperation across industries.

The announcement comes at a time when Comcast is under heavy fire because it it blocks some internet file-sharing services that require large amounts of bandwidth, such as BitTorrent. A number of consumer shave started a class action against the operator because of throttling.

Earlier this month, the US communications authority FCC looked into the matter and criticised the operator for the way it handles internet traffic on its network.

Comcast has now said it is prepared to change its ways. “We will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today’s emerging internet trends,” said Tony Werner, Comcast Cable’s CTO, in a prepared statement.