Boston Herald, March 28, 2008
By Jay Fitzgerald

Comcast and a California file-sharing firm may have called a truce yesterday in a bitter broadband battle that led to a special federal hearing last month in Cambridge. But critics of Comcast - which has been accused of unfairly blocking Internet traffic for some broadband users - say the truce isn’t going to end the war over whether large telecom companies are increasing their control over the Internet.

“We think the deal between two companies is not good enough,” said Craig Aaron, a spokesman for Free Press, a nonprofit media advocacy group that’s pushing for a so-called “Net neutrality” law that would ban firms from determining who can have access to the Web.

In a surprise move, Comcast said yesterday that it will “collaborate” with San Francisco-based BitTorrent Inc., a developer of the file-sharing software, on how to better manage heavy Web traffic over broadband lines.

In a statement, Comcast said yesterday its agreement with BitTorrent will lead to a more “protocol agnostic” management of Web traffic without targeting one type of technology.

Last fall, Comcast was caught blocking the downloading of content by some people using BitTorrent’s software. Comcast said it was merely trying to better manage traffic, but critics said it was a blatant case of Comcast flexing its control over the Web.

The FCC ordered a series of hearings to review the controvery - and Comcast found itself the target of harsh criticism at a hearing held at Harvard last month. The hearing drew added attention after it was learned Comcast paid some non-company people to hold seats at a Harvard auditorium.

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