Cox Blocking P2P, Too

Cox Communications appears to be impeding peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic in the same way Comcast has, according to a study released Thursday by a German research group. Germany’s Max Planck Institute, a science and technology research organization, analyzed a test of 8,175 Internet volunteers around the world and found that both Comcast and Cox are blocking peer-to-peer traffic over their networks during all hours of the day. In a statement sent to the Associated Press, Cox said: "To ensure the best possible online experience for our customers, Cox actively manages network traffic through a variety of methods including traffic prioritization and protocol filtering." Cox also noted that its subscriber agreement has indicated since at least 2006 that it uses protocol filtering to manage network resources, and denied that the techniques it uses to manage bandwidth amounts to “blocking” any Internet service. The Max Planck study found that 82 of the 151 Cox broadband subscribers (54%) that voluntarily tested their connections through the research group’s site had their P2P connections blocked. Of the 788 Comcast subscribers participating, 491 (62%) were blocked. Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge said, "These results lead us to three conclusions. First, the largest cable companies were doing more blocking than they have admitted to Congress or to the FCC. Second, other cable companies, and all telephone companies, can manage their networks without the need for blocking the traffic of customers. Finally, the fact that the blocking goes on all the time should tell the Commission that it needs to act soon to prevent the practice."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6561294.html?nid=4262