Comcast to Lift File-Sharing Delays

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA Under pressure from federal regulators, Comcast Corp. reversed its stance over hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers and promised Thursday to treat all types of Internet traffic equally.

The Internet service provider said it will collaborate with BitTorrent Inc., which invented a more efficient successor to file- sharing services such as Napster, to improve transmission of large files over the Internet and eventually stop delaying file transfers based on the specific technology used.

At issue was whether a service provider like Comcast has the right to control what types of traffic it will let through, block or delay. Comcast said it needs to clamp down on heavy users of Internet bandwidth so others won’t be slowed down.

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