Comcast Pays Out $16M In P2P Throttling Suit

eldavojohn writes "Comcast has settled out of court to the tune of $16 million in one of several ongoing P2P throttling class action lawsuits. You may be eligible for up to $16 restitution if 'you live in the United States or its Territories, have a current or former Comcast High-Speed Internet account, and either used or attempted to use Comcast service to use the Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P2P protocols at any time from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008; and/or Lotus Notes to send emails any time from March 26, 2007 to October 3, 2007.' $16 million seems low. And it's too bad this was an out-of-court settlement instead of a solid precedent-setting decision for your right to use P2P applications. The settlement will probably not affect the slews of other Comcast P2P throttling suits, and it's unclear whether it will placate the FCC."

Typical!

[SirLoadALot]

Once again the lawyers are the only winners. $16 is farcical, and the total $16 million is a rounding error for Comcast -- it doesn't serve as much incentive against bad behaviour in the future.

Re:Typical!

[SirLoadALot]

Also, although I am not in Comcast's service area, if I were I don't think I would want to sign a piece of paper saying I used one or more P2P services between two dates. The MPAA and RIAA are way too aggressive to give them even a sliver of help for $16.

Gotta love it.

[system1111]

Got love how everyday people will get sued by corporations for many times their annual income ( $80,000 a song) but when it comes to corporations getting sued it equates to a far lower ratio. Any one else think its kind of silly.

1%?

[MikeD83]

Assuming someone paid for only internet access at $35 per month during the time Comcast was infringing their rights they would have paid Comcast $1,155. Comcast is only required to pay damages of 1%? Wow... that's Comcastic!

Re:Gotta love it.

[mcgrew]

I don't think it's silly, I think it's a damned shame.

It's a trap!

[Hognoxious]

used or attempted to use Comcast service to use the Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P2P protocols

They'll give you 16 bucks, and the RIAA will take 20 grand!

Re:Typical!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you refer to the British as prudes? The US has stricter censorship than the British do.

Re:You won a boat! scam.

[mcgrew]

There are a lot of people (I'm one) who uses BitTorrent, etc. to download Linux distros, FOS software, music that the artist encourages you to share (and there's more of that than there is RIAA music), etc.

P2P is not proof of illicit activity, although the RIAA wants everyone to think it is.

Re:Typical!

[supersat]

World of Warcraft uses BitTorrent to distribute its patches. Every WoW player using Comcast can make a claim without admitting to anything that the MAFIAA might use against them.

Re:Specific programs? That's a load of...

[supersat]

protocol != client. The Blizzard updater uses the BitTorrent protocol.

Re:Typical!

[xaxa]

British prudes

They certainly exist, but they don't have control over the media. After 21:00, supposedly when young children are no longer watching, pretty much anything except porn is broadcast on normal channels. Before that time nudity would normally be non-sexual.

The full rules for broadcasters [ofcom.org.uk].

Re:Typical!

[PopeRatzo]

$16 million is a golf bet for the CEO of Comcast. They'll make $16 million selling cable porn this afternoon.

I'm trying to think of the last time a corporation was fined or sanctioned in such a way that it really changed their behavior. Anyone want to give some examples?

Obviously

[Ogive17]

Obviously Comcast's reaction to this news will be to increase their fees to each consumer by $17.

So hit them where it hurts their pocket book

[Xphile101361]

Yes, there should be legal repercussions for a company doing something like this to its customers. Unfortuneately, lawyers aren't cheap and companies can pay to have more of them. While more doesn't mean better, it does reduce your chances of being able to go up against such a company. Of course it would be different if you identified the people who were wronged by this ahead of time and had each one chip in five bucks for a legal team ($5 X 1 million people, you get the idea).

Regardless of this, getting a settlement of 16 million isn't going to hurt anyone. They'll make that amount back from a "customer" in a few months. So if you disagree with a company's practicies... don't use that company. Give up your cable modem or switch to another provider. It makes no sense that you are willing to continue to pay a company which you are suing, and thus financing their legal defense against your claim. Having 1 million subscribers choose to drop Comcast would do tons more than paying each one 16$.

Re:Typical!

[jambarama]

Comcast is not immunized from further suits. As long as you don't take part in the settlement, you can still sue them individually. Alternately, although it is unlikely a judge will certify another class over the same issue, it has happened before (see asbestos lawsuits).

Class actions let you bring suits where no one person has been harmed a meaningful amount. How much legally-cognizable value did you lose from having P2P interrupted? Probably not enough to sue over. Without class action, comcast wouldn't be deterred from repeating this behavior and no one would get anything. I know $16 isn't much, but really how much do you think is reasonable for a few months of p2p interruption on a residential cable line?

Re:Typical!

[shentino]

That class action settlement means nothing without an injunction to stop Comcast from further meddling.

Re:So hit them where it hurts their pocket book

[shentino]

Do the words "monopoly" mean anything to you?

Comcast apparently sucks...but does it suck bad enough that, when there's no other game in town, it's better to just do without?

Re:Tell me

[jlarocco]

How can people on Slashdot be so fucking dumb? If Comcast wanted to sell your name to the RIAA or MPAA, they already have all the information they need. Hell, they could hand over your credit card number, if they wanted to.

Yeah, Comcast sucks, but use your fucking brains, people.

Re:1%?

[Croakus]

... during the time Comcast was infringing their rights ...

How were their rights infringed? This seems like a simple breach of contract. Comcast was contractually obligated to provide a certain service and failed to do so.

Re:Typical!

[ppanon]

Page 3 [wikipedia.org]

Re:Typical!

[StuartHankins]

This isn't intended to jinx you or anything -- but if anyone is going to get hit with a suit by the **AA's I hope it's a lawyer. They're the only ones who can afford to defend themselves. Most of the rest of us can't afford your industry's rates.

Re:Typical!

[Carnildo]

190F? Hardly the standard serving temperature for coffee:

Take a swig of 140F coffee -- the temperature your home coffee maker produces. You'll swallow in a hurry, your mouth will feel tender for a few minutes, and you might express your discomfort.

Take a swig of 165F coffee -- the temperature your local restaraunt keeps theirs at. You might swallow, you might spit it out, you'll probably curse for a bit, and your mouth will stop hurting by the end of the day.

Take a swig of 190F coffee -- the temperature McDonalds used to keep theirs at. You'll shriek in agony, and if you don't spit it out in a hurry, you'll spend the next few days in the hospital on an IV drip while the doctors see if your mouth and throat need reconstructive surgery.