BitTorrent and Comcast?

[Benjamin Scott]

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004, at 4:05pm, f at ke1g.mv.com wrote:
> Does anyone know whether Comcast considers using BitTorrent as a client to
> be a terms of service violation (because each client also serves)?

  When an ISP's ToS refer to running "servers", they generally mean hosting
services.  They don't care about things like BitTorrent, they just don't
want you hanging a mail server or whatever off their feed.

  Even then, they aren't likely to care unless you cause them trouble.  You
have to remember, Comcast is this huge giant organization.  Mere mortals
like you and me are a pimple on a whale's butt to them.  Don't do anything
illegal (like trade in pirated material), and don't suck up more bandwidth
then Slashdot, and you won't even show on their radar.

  ISP ToS usually reserve the right to terminate your service at any time
for any reason they can dream up, including "We don't like your face", so it
isn't like adhering to the letter of the law gets you anything.

> I can't get a straight answer out of Comcast customer support.

  Ironically enough, bothering customer support about what you can and
cannot do is probably one of the things that can get you to show up on
their radar.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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