Do you remember a little while back when Comcast was busted for blocking peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic? Well, after a handful of lawsuits, class-actions, judgments and appeals where Comcast stacked the courtrooms with goons, the parties have settled and the result is that Comcast has reluctantly agreed to PAY $16 to each customer affected, up to $16 million…and of course Comcast doesn’t have to admit that they did anything wrong.
You must submit a valid Claim Form to be eligible for credit or refund. The claim verifies that you are a current or former Comcast High-Speed Internet service account holder who is eligible to make a claim because you either:
- Used or attempted to use Comcast service to use the Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P2P protocols any time from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008 and were unable to share files or have reason to believe that the speed at which files were shared was impaired; and/or
- Attempted but were unable to use Comcast service to use Lotus Notes to send emails any time from March 26, 2007 to October 3, 2007.
CLICK HERE ===> File Your Claim <==== CLICK HERE
…and be sure to donate to CUT-THE-CABLE to keep this site alive.
I just received my Comcast statement in the mail and information regarding this lawsuit was included.
I have been using Comcast for years now, and am a frequent user of P2P programs. I started with Napster before it crumbled, then moved on to Kazaa, and now use the Bittorrent protocol. Under this settlement I would be eligible for my $16 rebate on my Comcast bill because I downloaded millions of dollars in copy righted material that Comcast tried to block.
I am by no means a fan of Comcast and the tactics they employee as a business. If they are going to publicly offer a download and upload speed, then they are obligated to adhere to that advertised speed. But, how in the hell is justice served by paying $16,000,000.00 to internet users that were, in all likelihood, downloading copyrighted material?!?
$16 off my next bill is worthless to me and I will not be signing onto the suit. I also plan on filing a statement, and will try to attend the hearing in Philadelphia since I live only an hour away. The lawyers for this suit will be seeking $3,000,000.00 for costs associated with litigation, and the class of plaintiffs will get a max $16. This is easily one of the grossest applications of justice I have seen recently.
I know that as a person who downloads and uploads copyrighted music, videos, software, books, audio books, pictures, games, etc. I am not supposed to talk about it. But, if no one talks about the obvious and actually admits it and points out what a sham this case is, then nothing will be done.
I attended a seminar in my 1st semester of Law School on Intellectual Copyright law, and the speaker was partner at a IC firm. I asked his take on internet P2P software and copyrighted material, and whether there was a solution to the issue. I made the comment that it was likely a majority of the students in the room had at some point downloaded a song illegally using this method….and when I looked around the room no one would even look at me. These are 20+ yr olds who grew up when Napster was a hit. But, no one will admit breaking a law that so many people break everyday. The speaker’s response was that he didn’t have an answer and that maybe one day the law would catch up with the times. Seems like a horrible response since by the time the law catches up, the times will have changed and again, be ahead of the law.
Comment by Sean (via EdBrill.com) — April 1, 2010 @ 3:17 pm
Sean,
Thanks for your comment and I agree with you 1000% There are very few free thinkers left in this world and the ones like yourself that find it nauseating to even think of just smiling and keeping their mouths shut are the ones that are quickly ferreted out and squashed by authority figures before you speak too loudly and expose them.
Your little classmates will keep their heads down and speak when spoken to and get their degrees and corner offices and big paychecks. YOU WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. It wont be easy and it will cost you personally and professionally, but that is the cost of being a free thinker and not just falling in line.
Let me know when you graduate and you’re ready for the next phase…we can use good people like you.
Comment by John — June 11, 2010 @ 4:29 pm