Cable provider looks to create Bill of Rights for P2P users

Comcast and partner Pando Networks are leading an effort to push the industry to adopt some common practices when it comes to dealing with file sharers.

Pando is providing the cable operator with its Network Aware P2P technology so that it can analyze traffic moving through its network. Comcast plans to publicize those test results so that other cable operators can optimize their networks to better handle P2P traffic.

This follows what could be called a truce between Comcast and BitTorrent, who are trying to reach an amicable solution for controlling peer to peer traffic without outright throttling.

Such a document would essentially be a list of best practices for network operators, as well as what choices and controls consumers should have been using P2P.

Work on the Bill of Rights, combined with its Pando test and the BitTorrent partnership, will help the company move towards its goal of a protocol-agnostic network management structure by the end of this year, it said.

"Working together, Comcast and Pando can help lead the discussion about what consumers should expect in terms of a 'P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities' for P2P users and ISPs," Comcast technology chief Tony Werner said. "Doing so is in the best interest of everyone involved -- ISPs, P2P companies and consumers."